http://dnareunion.genebase.com/article.php?type=start&page=5
http://jewsandjoes.com/indo-saka-sacae-scythian.html
Genetics
Early physical analyses have unanimously discovered that the Scythians, even those in the east (E.g. Pazyryk region), possessed distinctly European features. This has been supplemented and refined by analysis of ancient DNA.
In a 2009 study, the haplotypes and haplogroups of 26 ancient human specimens from the Krasnoyarsk area in Siberia dated from between the middle of the second millennium BC. to the 4th century AD (Scythian and Sarmatian timeframe). Nearly all subjects belong to haplogroup R-M17. The study authors suggest that their data shows that between Bronze and Iron Ages, the constellation of populations known variously as Scythians, Andronovians, etc. were blue (or green)-eyed, fair-skinned and light-haired people who might have played a role in the early development of the Tarim Basin civilization. Moreover, this study found that they were genetically more closely related to modern populations of eastern Europe than central and southern Asia.[21]
In a 2004 study, analysis of the HV1 sequence obtained from a male Scytho-Siberian’s remains at the Kizil site in the Altai Republic revealed the individual possessed the N1a maternal lineage.[22] Mitochondrial DNA has been extracted from two Scytho-Siberian skeletons found in the Altai Republic (Russia). Both remains were determined to be of males from a population who had characteristics “of mixed Euro-Mongoloid origin”. One of the individuals was found to carry the F2a maternal lineage, and the other the D lineage, both of which are characteristic of East Eurasian populations.[23]
In a 2002 study, maternal genetic analysis of Saka period male and female skeletal remains from a double inhumation kurgan located at the Beral site in Kazakhstan was analysed. The two individuals were found to be not closely related and were possibly husband and wife. The HV1 mitochondrial sequence of the male was similar to the Anderson sequence which is most frequent in European populations. Contrary, the HV1 sequence of the female suggested a greater likelihood of Asian origins
Sakas and Indo-Scythians
Asians, especially Persians, knew the Scythians in Asia as Sakas. The Indo-Scythians had the name “Shaka” in South Asia, an extension on the name “Saka”. Herodotus (7.64) describes them as Scythians, called by a different name:
The Sacae, or Scyths, were clad in trousers, and had on their heads tall stiff caps rising to a point. They bore the bow of their country and the dagger; besides which they carried the battle-axe, or sagaris. They were in truth Amyrgian (Western) Scythians, but the Persians called them Sacae, since that is the name which they gave to all Scythians.
Some Asian Saka include Nagbanshi, Bala, Gurjjara,[25][26] and Jats[27]
In the 2nd century BC, a group of Scythian tribes, known as the Indo-Scythians, migrated into Bactria, Sogdiana, Arachosia and Gandhara. The migrations in 175-125 BC of the Kushan (Chinese: “Yuezhi”) tribes, who originally lived in eastern Tarim Basin before the Huns tribes dislodged them, displaced the Indo-Scythians from Central Asia. Led by their king Maues, they ultimately settled in modern-day Afghanistan/Pakistan from around 85 BC, where they replaced the kingdom of the Indo-Greeks by the time of Azes II (reigned c. 35–12 BC). Kushans invaded again in the 1st century, but the Indo-Scythian rule persisted in some areas of Central India until the 5th century. Abars, one of the Scythian tribes entered in Indian in 1st century BC
Late Antiquity (AD 300 to 600)
In Late Antiquity, the notion of a Scythian ethnicity grew more vague and outsiders might dub any people inhabiting the Pontic-Caspian steppe as “Scythians”, regardless of their language. Thus, Priscus, a Byzantine emissary to Attila, repeatedly referred to the latter’s followers as “Scythians”. But Eunapius, Claudius Cladianus and Olympiodorus usually mean “Goths” when they write “Scythians”.
The Goths had displaced the Sarmatians in the 2nd century from most areas near the Roman frontier, and by early medieval times, the Turkic migration marginalized East Iranian dialects, and assimilated the Saka linguistically
:::
Historical Arimaspi
Modern historians speculate on historical identities that may be selectively extracted from the brief account of “Arimaspi”. Herodotus recorded a detail recalled from Arimaspea that may have a core in fact: “the Issedones were pushed from their lands by the Arimaspoi, and the Scythians by the Issedones” (iv.13.1). The “sp” in the name suggests that it was mediated through Iranian sources to Greek, indeed in Early Iranian Arimaspi combines Ariama (love) and Aspa (horses)[4]—a designation that fits very well any steppe people of riders. Herodotus or his source seems to have misunderstood the Scythian word as a combination of the roots arima (“one”) and spou (“eye”) and to have created a mythic image to account for it. …
The brief report of Herodotus seems to be very flimsy ground for making unequivocal statements about the historical background out of which the legend emerged. Notwithstanding these reservations, Tadeusz Sulimirski (1970) claims that the Arimaspi were a Sarmatian tribe originating in the upper valley of the River Irtysh, while Dmitry Machinsky (1997) associates them with a group of three-eyed ajna figurines from the Minusinsk Depression, traditionally attributed to the Afanasevo and Okunevo cultures of southern Siberia.[6]
Mythological background
As philologists have noted, the struggle between the Arimaspi and the griffins has remarkable similarities to Homer’s account of the Pygmaioi warring with cranes. Michael Rostovtzeff found a rendering of the subject in the Vault of Pygmies near Kerch, a territory that used to have a significant Scythian population.[7] Analogous representations have been discovered as far apart as the Volci of Etruria and the fifth kurgan of Pazyryk.[8] A Hellenistic literary rendering of a battle with uncanny guardian “birds of Ares” is in Argonautica 1.
Cheremisin and Zaporozhchenko (1999), following the methodology of Georges Dumézil, attempt to trace parallels in Germanic mythology (Odin and the mead of poetry, the eagle stealing golden apples of eternal youth). They hypothesize that all these stories, Germanic, Scythian, and Greek, reflect a Proto-Indo-European belief about the monsters guarding the entrance to the otherworld, who engage in battles with the birds conveying the souls of the newly dead to the otherworld and returning with a variety of precious gifts symbolizing new life.[9]
Adrienne Mayor & Michael Heaney, ‘Griffins and Arimaspeans’ in Folklore, Vol. 104, No. 1/2, 1993, pp. 40–66
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Negligible Male Gene Flow Across Ethnic Boundaries in India, Revealed by Analysis of Y-Chromosomal DNA Polymorphisms
Nitai Pada Bhattacharyya
:::
Pazyryk culture
Horseman, Pazyryk felt artifact, ca. 300 BC.
Main article: Pazyryk culture
Scythians (Wikipedia)
Some of the first Bronze Age Scythian burials documented by modern archaeologists include the kurgans at Pazyryk in the Ulagan (Red) district of the Altai Republic, south of Novosibirsk in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia (near Mongolia). Archaeologists have extrapolated the Pazyryk culture from these finds: five large burial mounds and several smaller ones between 1925 and 1949, one opened in 1947 by Russian archaeologist Sergei Rudenko. The burial mounds concealed chambers of larch-logs covered over with large cairns of boulders and stones.
The Pazyryk culture flourished between the 7th and 3rd century BC in the area associated with the Sacae.
Ordinary Pazyryk graves contain only common utensils, but in one, among other treasures, archaeologists found the famous Pazyryk Carpet, the oldest surviving wool-pile oriental rug. Another striking find, a 3-metre-high four-wheel funerary chariot, survived superbly preserved from the 5th century BC.
Although some scholars sought to connect the Pazyryk nomads with indigenous ethnic groups of the Altaic, Rudenko summed up the cultural context in the following dictum:[citation needed]
All that is known to us at the present time about the culture of the population of the High Altai, who have left behind them the large cairns, permits us to refer them to the Scythian period, and the Pazyryk group in particular to the 5th century BC. This is supported by radiocarbon dating.
Herodotus reports that Scythians used cannabis, both to weave their clothing and to cleanse themselves in its smoke (Hist. 4.73-75); archaeology has confirmed the use of cannabis in funeral rituals.
Scythian bowl, 5th century BC found at Castelu, Romania. In display at Constanţa Museum of National History.
Men and women dressed differently. Herodotus mentioned that Sakas had “high caps and …wore trousers.” Clothing was sewn from plain-weave wool, hemp cloth, silk fabrics, felt, leather and hides.
Pazyryk findings give the most number of almost fully preserved garments and clothing worn by the Scythian/Saka peoples. Ancient Persian bas-relief – Apadana or Behistun inscription, ancient Greek pottery, archaeological findings from Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, China et al. give visual representations of these garments
Herodotus says Sakas had “high caps tapering to a point and stiffly upright.” Asian Saka headgear is clearly visible on the Persepolis Apadana staircase bas-relief – high pointed hat with flaps over ears and the nape of the neck.[45] From China to the Danube delta, men seemed to have worn a variety of soft headgear – either conical like the one described by Herodotus, or rounder, more like a Phrygian cap.
Women wore a variety of different headdresses, some conical in shape others more like flattened cylinders, also adorned with metal (golden) plaques.
Ancient influences from Central Asia became identifiable in China following contacts of metropolitan China with nomadic western and northwestern border territories from the 8th century BC. The Chinese adopted the Scythian-style animal art of the steppes (descriptions of animals locked in combat), particularly the rectangular belt-plaques made of gold or bronze, and created their own versions in jade and steatite.[46]
Following their expulsion by the Yuezhi, some Scythians may also have migrated to the area of Yunnan in southern China. Scythian warriors could also have served as mercenaries for the various kingdoms of ancient China. Excavations of the prehistoric art of the Dian civilization of Yunnan have revealed hunting scenes of Caucasoid horsemen in Central Asian clothing.[47]
A Crown of Silla
Scythian influences have been identified as far as Korea and Japan. Various Korean artifacts, such as the royal crowns of the kingdom of Silla, are said to be of Scythian design.[48] Similar crowns, brought through contacts with the continent, can also be found in Kofun era Japan
Religion
Main article: Scythian religion
Offering pot from a Scythian grave from Alba Iulia, Romania, 6th century BC. In display at National Museum of the Union, Alba Iulia
The religious beliefs of the Scythians was a type of Pre-Zoroastrian Iranian religion and differed from the post-Zoroastrian Iranian thoughts.[50] Foremost in the Scythian pantheon stood Tabiti, who was later replaced by Atar, the fire-pantheon of Iranian tribes, and Agni, the fire deity of Indo-Aryans.[50] The Scythian belief was a more archaic stage than the Zoroastrian and Hindu systems. The use of cannabis to induce trance and divination by soothsayers was a characteristic of the Scythian belief system
The “Scythian languages” are essentially unattested, and their internal divergence is difficult to judge. They belonged to the Eastern Iranian family of languages.
The Scythian languages may have formed a dialect continuum: “Scytho-Sarmatian” in the west and “Scytho-Khotanese” or Saka in the east.[51] They were mostly marginalized and assimilated as a consequence of the late antiquity and early Middle Ages Slavic and Turkic expansion.
Persians and other peoples in Asia referred to the Scythians living in Asia as Sakas. Herodotus (IV.64) describes them as Scythians, although they figure under a different name:
The Sacae, or Scyths, were clad in trousers, and had on their heads tall stiff caps rising to a point. They bore the bow of their country and the dagger; besides which they carried the battle-axe, or sagaris. They were in truth Amyrgian (Western) Scythians, but the Persians called them Sacae, since that is the name which they gave to all Scythians.
Strabo
Scythian artefacts originating from sites in Transylvania, in display at Aiud History Museum, Aiud, Romania.
In the 1st century BC, the Greek-Roman geographer Strabo gave an extensive description of the eastern Scythians, whom he located in north-eastern Asia beyond Bactria and Sogdiana:[53]
Then comes Bactriana, and Sogdiana, and finally the Scythian nomads.
Strabo went on to list the names of the various tribes among the Scythians, probably making an amalgam with some of the tribes of eastern Central Asia (such as the Tocharians):[53]
Now the greater part of the Scythians, beginning at the Caspian Sea, are called Daheans, but those who are situated more to the east than these are named Massageteans and Saceans, whereas all the rest are given the general name of Scythians, though each people is given a separate name of its own. They are all for the most part nomads. But the best known of the nomads are those who took away Bactriana from the Greeks (i.e. Greco-Bactrians), I mean the Asians, Pasians, Tocharians, and Sacarauls, who originally came from the country on the other side of the Jaxartes River that adjoins that of the Sacae and the Sogdians and was occupied by the Sacae.
Migration period
See also: Sarmatians, Alans, and Ossetians
Although the classical Scythians may have largely disappeared by the 1st century BC, Eastern Romans continued to speak conventionally of “Scythians” to designate Germanic tribes and confederations[54] or mounted Eurasian nomadic barbarians in general: in 448 AD two mounted “Scythians” led the emissary Priscus to Attila’s encampment in Pannonia. The Byzantines in this case carefully distinguished the Scythians from the Goths and Huns who also followed Attila.
The Sarmatians (including the Alans and finally the Ossetians) counted as Scythians in the broadest sense of the word – as speakers of Northeast Iranian languages,[55] and are considered mostly of Indo-Iranian descent.
A number of groups have claimed possible descent from the Scythians, including the Ossetians, Pashtuns (in particular, the Sakzai tribe), Jats[27] and the Parthians (whose homelands lay to the east of the Caspian Sea and who were thought to have come there from north of the Caspian). Some legends of the Poles,[61] the Picts, the Gaels, the Hungarians (in particular, the Jassics), the Serbs and the Croats, among others, also include mention of Scythian origins. Some writers claim that Scythians figured in the formation of the empire of the Medes and likewise of Caucasian Albania.
The Scythians also feature in some national origin-legends of the Celts. In the second paragraph of the 1320 Declaration of Arbroath, the élite of Scotland claim Scythia as a former homeland of the Scots. According to the 11th c. Lebor Gabála Érenn (The Book of the Taking of Ireland), the 14th c. Auraicept na n-Éces and other Irish folklore, the Irish originated in Scythia and were descendants of Fénius Farsaid, a Scythian prince who created the Ogham alphabet and who was one of the principal architects of the Gaelic language.
The Carolingian kings of the Franks traced Merovingian ancestry to the Germanic tribe of the Sicambri. Gregory of Tours documents in his History of the Franks that when Clovis was baptised, he was referred to as a Sicamber with the words “Mitis depone colla, Sicamber, adora quod incendisti, incendi quod adorasti.”‘. The Chronicle of Fredegar in turn reveals that the Franks believed the Sicambri to be a tribe of Scythian or Cimmerian descent, who had changed their name to Franks in honour of their chieftain Franco in 11 BC.
B. N. Mukerjee has said that it is clear that ancient Greek and Roman scholars believed, all Sakai were Scythians, but not all Scythians were Sakai[why?].[4]
Modern confusion about the identity of the Saka is partly due to the Persians. According to Herodotus, the Persians called all Scythians by the name Sakas.[5] Pliny the Elder (Gaius Plinius Secundus, AD 23–79) provides a more detailed explanation, stating that the Persians gave the name Sakai to the Scythian tribes “nearest to them”.[6] The Scythians to the far north of Assyria were also called the Saka suni “Saka or Scythian sons” by the Persians. The Assyrians of the time of Esarhaddon record campaigning against a people they called in the Akkadian the Ashkuza or Ishhuza.[7] Hugo Winckler was the first to associate them with the Scyths which identification remains without serious question. They were closely associated with the Gimirrai,[7] who were the Cimmerians known to the ancient Greeks. Confusion arose because they were known to the Persians as Saka, however they were known to the Babylonians as Gimirrai, and both expressions are used synonymously on the trilingual Behistun inscription, carved in 515 BC on the order of Darius the Great.[8] These Scythians were mainly interested in settling in the kingdom of Urartu, which later became Armenia. The district of Shacusen, Uti Province, reflects their name.[9] In ancient Hebrew texts, the Ashkuz (Ashkenaz) are considered to be a direct offshoot from the Gimirri (Gomer)
Confusion arose because they were known to the Persians as Saka, however they were known to the Babylonians as Gimirrai, and both expressions are used synonymously on the trilingual Behistun inscription, carved in 515 BC on the order of Darius the Great.[8] These Scythians were mainly interested in settling in the kingdom of Urartu, which later became Armenia. The district of Shacusen, Uti Province, reflects their name.[9] In ancient Hebrew texts, the Ashkuz (Ashkenaz) are considered to be a direct offshoot from the Gimirri (Gomer).[10]
A cataphract-style parade armour of a Saka royal from the Issyk kurgan, Kazakhstan.
Thus the Behistun inscription mentions four divisions of Scythians,
the Sakā paradraya “Saka beyond the sea” of Sarmatia,
the Sakā tigraxaudā “Saka with pointy hats/caps”,
the Sakā haumavargā “haoma-drinking Saka”[11] (Amyrgians, the Saka tribe in closest proximity to Bactria and Sogdiana),
the Sakā para Sugdam “Saka beyond Sugda (Sogdiana)” at the Jaxartes.
Of these, the Sakā tigraxaudā were the Saka proper.[citation needed] The Sakā paradraya were the western Scythians or Sarmatians, the Sakā haumavargā and Sakā para Sugdam were likely Scythian tribes associated with or split-of from the original Saka.
Pliny also mentions Aseni and Asoi clans south of the Hindukush.[12] Bucephala was the capital of the Aseni which stood on the Hydaspes (the Jhelum River).[13] The Sarauceans and Aseni are the Sacarauls and Asioi of Strabo
Asii, also written Asioi, were one of the nomadic tribes mentioned in Roman and Greek accounts as responsible for the downfall of the state of Bactria circa 140 BCE. These tribes are usually identified as “Scythian”, “Saka” or Tocharian peoples
The texts relating to the Asii are very brief. The three main surviving classical sources are those of Strabo, Trogus and Justin. Both Trogus’ Historiae Philippicae (as preserved in Justin) and Strabo’s Geography exist in a number of ancient manuscripts containing significant textual variations leading to widely varying translations and interpretations.
[edit]Gnaeus Pompeius Trogus
Trogus (Gnaeus Pompeius Trogus; fl. 1st century BCE) wrote his Historiae Philppicae in Latin. Unfortunately, only his ‘Prologues’ have survived intact. He mentions three tribes involved in the conquest of Bactria: the Asiani, Sacaraucae and the Tochari, of whom the Sacaraucae were said to have been destroyed. The Asiani are reported as becoming, at some point, rulers over the Tochari, though this text is sometimes translated as the “Asian kings of the Tochari.”
Marcus Junianus Justinus, a late 2nd or 3rd century Roman historian, wrote an epitome or condensation of Trogus’ history. The last datable event recorded by Justin is the recovery of the Roman standards captured by the Parthians in 20 BCE, although Trogus’ original history may have dealt with events into the first decade of the 1st century CE.
In Bactrianis autem rebus ut a Diodoto rege constitutum imperium est: deinde quo regnante Scythicae gentes, Saraucae et Asiani, Bactra occupavere et Sogdianos.
—Trogus’ Prologue, Book 41[1]
The report on the history of the Baktrians first speaks of king Diodotos by whom this realm was founded. Next, under which Scythian tribes’ rulers – namely the Saraucae and the Asiani – Baktra and the country of the Sogdians was occupied. Next, under which [Greek] ruler Scythian tribes, namely the Saraucae and Asiani, occupied Bactria and the land of the Sogdians.”
—English version of Seel’s German translation.[2]
Additae his res Scythicae. Reges Tocharorum Asiani interitusque Saraucarum. (In English: There is also a section on Scythian history, then one on the Asian kings of the Tochari, and on the demise of the Saraucae.)
—Trogus’ Prologue, Book 42 [3]
[edit]Strabo
Strabo (Στράβων; 64/63 BCE – 24 CE) wrote in Greek and completed his Geography in 23 CE, around the time of Trogus. He mentions four tribes: the Asioi (commonly accepted as the equivalent of the Latin Asii), the Pasianoi, the Tacharoi (or Tokharoi) and the Sakaraukai.
ΜΑΛΕС ΜΑΛΙСΤΑ ΔΕΓΝωРІΜОΙΓΕΓО ΝΑСΙΝΤωΝΝОΜΑ ΔωΝОІΤОΥСΕΛΛΗ ΝΑСΑΦΕΛОΜΕΝОΙ TΗΝΒΑΚΤΡΙΑΝΗ AСІОІΚΑΙΠΑСІΑΝОІ ΚΑІΤΑΧΑΡОІΚΑІСΑ ΚΑΡΑΥΚΑІОΡΜΗΘΕ ΤΕСΑΠОΤΗСΠΕΡΑІ ΑСΤОΥΤΙAΞΑΡΤОΥ ΤΗСΚΑΤΑСΑΚΑСΚΑΙ CОΓΔОΑΝОΥСΗΝ KΑΤΕΙΧОΝСΑΚΙ”
—The 5th century Vatican palimpsest, earliest known Greek text of the key passage from Strabo’s Geography 11.8.2
This translates as:
But the best known of the nomads are those who took away Baktrianē from the Greeks; the Asioi and the Pasianoi, and the Tacharoi and the Sakaraukai, who originally came from the other side of the Iaxartou that adjoins that of the Sakai and the Sogdoanou and was occupied by the Saki.
In 1725 J. F. Vaillant [4] proposed that the phrase usually given as ΑΣΙΟI KAI ΠΑΣΙΑΝΟI ([The] Asioi and Pasianoi) in Strabo 10.8.2 should be amended to ACΙΟΙ H ACΙΑΝΟ ([The] Asioi or Asianoi).
Vaillant had noticed that Trogus (Prologues XLI) mentions the “Scythian” people of the Asiani, who could be identified with the Asioi of Strabo.
The history of this manuscript has only been understood since the studies consecrated to W. Aly. Copied in Byzantium about the end of the 5th century… All the later manuscripts with Π and all the direct quotations of medieval times derive from a single prototype of the “Geography” carrying the title of Γεωγραφικά.
—[5]
[edit]Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder (23 CE–25 August 79 CE) wrote his famous Naturalis Historia with a brief mention of a people called the Asini:
and the Asini, a people who dwell in three cities, their capital being Bucephala, which was founded around the tomb of the horse belonging to king Alexander, which bore that name. Above these peoples there are some mountain tribes, which lie at the foot of Caucasus, the Soseadæ and the Sondræ, and, after passing the Indus and going down its stream, the Samarabriæ, the Sambraceni, the Bisambritæ, the Orsi, the Anixeni, and the Taxilæ, with a famous city, which lies on a low but level plain, the general name of the district being Amenda: there are four nations here, the Peucolaitæ, the Arsagalitæ, the Geretæ, and the Assoï.
—[6][7]
Pliny mentions as neighbours of the Soseadae the people of the Asini, who are reigning in the city of Bucephela. From these three data; 1) the Tacoraei are neighbours of the Besadae/Sosaeadae; 2) the Asini are the neighbours of the Sosaeadae; 3) The Asiani are kings of the Thocari, it follows that the Asini of Pliny’s text are identical with the Asiani, who are the kings of the Tocharians. This implies that—at least in the time of Pliny—the Kushāṇas were kings of the region between Jhelam and Indus and that Bucephala was one of their cities. It seems that Pliny availed himself of a recent description of this territory and that Ptolemy knew these data too.
—[8]
This town – Bucephalus/Bukephalus – has been identified with modern Jalāpur.[9]
[edit]Theories on the identification of the Asii
Many theories have been proposed by historians and other scholars as to their origins, relationships, language, culture, etc., but so far no consensus has emerged.
It is generally accepted that Trogus’ Asiani were probably identical to the Asii of Strabo,[10] perhaps leaving an extra tribe, the ‘Pasiani’ of Strabo, to account for.
Some scholars believe that the Asii and the Pasiani were one and the same tribe, with ‘Pasiani’ a simple mistake for ‘Asiani’ and just a different form of the name for the Asii. Others believe the ‘Pasiani’ were a separate tribe, with the Greek letter Π a scribal error for Η, in which case the beginning of the passage would read: “[the] Asii also (known as) the Asiani”;
Yuezhi and Wusun
W. W. Tarn first thought that the Asii were probably one part of the Yuezhi, the other being the Tochari. However, he later expressed doubts as to this position.[17][18]
The Asii were identical with the Paisani (Gaisani) and were, therefore, also the Yuezhi.
—J. Markwart. Ērānšahr[19]
It has been suggested that the Wusun may also be identified in Western sources as their name, pronounced then *o-sən or *uo-suən, is not far removed from that of a people known as the Asiani who the writer Pompeius Trogus (1st century BC) informs us were a Scythian tribe.
—J. P. Mallory and Victor H.Mair The Tarim Mummies[20]
The Yuezhi and the Wusun were originally two branches of the same people, the Yuezhi being the ‘Moon clan’; while the Wusun were the ‘Solar clan’.
—Yury Aleksey Zuev, Early Turks: Essays of History and Ideology[21]
The Asii were probably one of three Scythian tribes, whereas the Tochari w
Asiaghs and Rishikas/Arshikas
The Asii have also been identified with the Sanskrit Asiagh.[25][26][27] According to Kautilya they were “The people who depended on Asii (sword) for their living”.
On the other hand, James Tod thought the Greek term Asii/Asio was equivalent to Sanskrit Aswa/Asva and Asvaka and refers to ‘horse’ as well as the Scythic people connected with horse-culture.[28][29][30][31] The Aswa or Asvaka people are generally believed to be a sub-section of the wider Kamboja group,[32] a widespread tribe of horsemen inhabiting both sides of the Hindukush mountains.
The Sabha Parava of the Indian epic Mahabharata, many sections of which are believed to relate to historical events from around the Christian era, refers to the Bahlikas, Daradas, Kambojas, Dasyus, Lohas, Parama Kambojas,[33] Uttara (Northern) Rishikas [34] and Parama Rishikas.[35] The latter four tribes are by implication placed north of the Hindukush in Central Asia.[36]
In his Mahabhasya, Patanjali refers to the Arshikas[37] which are said to be same as the Rishikas. Kasika on Pāṇini (IV.2.132) also mentions the Arshikas and connects them with the Rishikas .[38] The Sanskrit tribal name Rishika has Arshika as its adjective form, the Prakrit form is Isi and Isika[39][40] or Asi and Asika.
The equivalents of the four Scythian tribes mentioned by Strabo (Asii, Pasiani, Tochari and Sacarauli) have also been found in Indian literature.
The Greeks were acquainted both with the Sanskrit forms Risika/Arsika and their Prakrit forms Isi/Isika. The Greek Asii (Appolodorus) may then represent Prakrit Isi and the Plinian Arsi the Sanskrit Arsika.
Pliny the Elder (23–79) knew about the Arsi People who may or may not be same as Asii of Apollodorus. As classical Asii/Asioi stands for Prakrit Isi/Isika or Sanskrit Risika,[41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49] Plinian Arsi may also be derived from Sanskrit Arsika.[46]
We have seen above that the Grecians knew of Asiani and Arshi. There should be no difficulty now to acknowledge that the Prakrit Ishi-Ishika stands for the Grecian Asii and the Grecian Arshi stands for the Sanskrit form Arshika. Perhaps these were the constituents of the Yüeh-Chi. The Uttara Rishikas could be equated to Ta Yüeh-Chi of the Chinese history.
—Trade and Trade Routes in Ancient India[50]
It is not difficult now to see that the Greek Asii is from Sanskrit Isi or Isi, and probably the Greek Arsi may be derived from Sanskrit Arsika
—Geographical and Economic Studies in the Mahābhārata[51]
In Indian literature the tribal names Rishika and Arshika are connected: “Risikesu jatah Arsikah, Mahisakesu jatah Mahisakah”.[52][53]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamboja_(name)
Kamboja or Kambuja[1] is the name of an ancient Indo-Iranian kingdom. They are believed to have been located originally in Pamirs and Badakshan in Central Asia.
The name has a long history of attestation, both in the Iranian and the Indo-Aryan spheres.
In Sanskrit literature, it appears from the middle Vedic period (Iron Age). While not reflected in the Vedic samhitas, it is attested in the later Brahmana stage (ca. 7th century BCE) in the Vamsa Brahmana, as well as in Yaska’s Nirukta. Kamboja becomes tangible as a Mahajanapada kingdom in the Hindukush from the Epic Sanskrit stage. Kambojas enter India proper with the Indo-Scythian invasion and the name becomes established as the dynastic name of a number of ancient and medieval kingdoms of Bengal, Tibet, South India, Sri Lanka and Indochina
In Iranian, Kambuj is reflected in the name of Cambyses of Anshan in the early 6th century BCE. The name appears in Old Persian as C-n-b-n-z-y in Aramaic, Kambuzia in Assyrian, Kambythet in Egyptian, Kam-bu-zi-ia in Assyrian, Kan-bu-zi-ia in Elamite, Kanpuziya.
The etymology of Kamboja (or “Kambuja”, “Kambujiya”) is unclear. There are several suggestions, most scholars favouring Iranian origin (visible in the de-aspiration of the b, from an Indo-Iranian bhuj). Inspired by the proper name Cambyses, Michael Witzel proposes that the name may originate as a title given to the Persian crown prince
nother interpretation (Seth 1937) accept’s bhuj as the root of the second element, but takes the kam as the name of a particular region, thus “ruler of Kam”, Kam being interpreted as referring to the territory of Sogdia.[4]
Anthroponym “Kambu”
Scholars like Casey suppose that Kambuja lineage of the ruling family of ancient Cambodia originated from their legendary patriarch figure called Svayambhuva Kambu. According to Casey, “Kambuja” is etymologically deived from Kambu+ja, where ja in Sanskrit is said to mean “son or descendant”. Hence, Kambujas means “descendants of Kambu”.[5] On similar lines, some argue that the name of the Indo-Iranian Kambojas may have eponymously originated from some ancient patriarchal figure known as Kambo. The Kambu as a name of an Asura (Iranian) clan is attested in ancient Hindu texts like Markendeya Purana [6] and Devi Mahatam,[7] where the Kambu (Kamboja) clan is portrayed “in clash with” the Indo-Aryans. It is notable that King Ashoka’s Rock Edicts (3rd century BCE) located in Peshawar also write Kamboy (i.e. Kambo) for Sanskrit Kamboj. It is also notable that the terms Kambo and Kambu were used in medieval Muslim writings for the Kamboj population of greater Panjab.
the death of Cambyses (Kambaujiya) in 522 BC. Unfortunately for Harmatta, the name still occurred in the three Elamite tablets [8] dated 498-497 and 501-500 BCE ”
According to Dr Wilson, part of the name Kamboja (i.e. Kambi) is in the Cambistholi of Arrian: the last two syllables, no doubt, represent the Sanscrit Sthala, ‘place,’ ‘district;’ and the word denotes the dwellers in the Kamba or Kambis country: so Kamboja may be explained as those born in Kamba or Kambas.[12] [3]. In the like manner, the name Kambavati or Kambhavati or Khambavati (-vati means residence, pura) has also been connected with the Kambojas. In English, the name Kambavati or Kambhavati appears as Cambay[13]
Cambysene
Bordering on the Caucasus mountains west of Armenia, there was an ancient region which Strabo attests as Kambysēnē.[14] It comprised a rugged region through which a road connecting Caucasian Albania and Caucasian Iberia passed.[15] The Greek form of the name i.e. Kambysēnē, must have been derived in the Hellenistic period from an indigenous name, corresponding to Armenian Kʿambēčan, with the common ending -ēnē. In Georgian it is written Kambečovani, in Arabic Qambīzān.[16] In Sanskrit, it is believed to have been transliterated as Kamboja. Though not attested prior to Strabo, the region Cambysene and the rivers Cyrus and Cambyses are believed to have born these name since remote antiquity. The tribal people living around this region were also called by the same name. Strabo also attests two rivers viz: Cyrus (modern Kura) and Cambyses or Kambyses (modern Jori or Jora),[17] the latter was a tributary of the former. These territorial and river names Kambysene and Cambyses which occurred north of Iran have been linked to ethno-geographical name Kambuja/Kamboja of Sanskrit tradition.[18] According to Ernst Herzfeld, the names of Cyrus and Cambyses rivers, as well as the Achaemenid names Kurush and Kambujiya, were derived from two ethnics Kuru and Kamboja.[19][20] The name Kambujiya occurs in Egypt as Kambuza, Kambatet (rather Kambuzia ) as well as Kambunza.[21] Dr Chandra Chakravarty states that the hordes, who had participated in the ancient invasion of Iran along with Yautiyas were the Nordic Scythians (Kuru-Kambojas) from around the Kambysene region near Mt Caucasus. A branch of these Kambysene Scythians later mixed with the Xsatyatia Parsas (=Puru Khattis) thus giving birth to the well known Achaemenians.[22] However, a section of them also settled on north-west of India. These Kambysene hordes later came to be known as Kambojas and their province as Kamboja in ancient Indian traditions.[23]
In Zend Avestan, Kambyses or Kambujiya takes the form of Kavaus and in modern Persian as Kavus and Kaus.[24][25] In modern times, the name appears as Kamoj in Kafiristan and Kamboj/Kamboh in Punjab. Spiegel regards the personal name Kambujiya as originally an adjective, meaning belonging to the Kambuja or Kamboja.[
Narayanapala (855–908) was the sixth emperor of the Pala dynasty of eastern India, mainly the Bengal and Bihar regions. The Gaya temple inscription dated in his 7th regnal year, the Indian Museum (found in the erstwhile Patna district) stone inscription dated in his 9th regnal year, the Bhagalpur copper-plate grant dated in his 17th regnal year, Bihar votive image inscription dated in his 54th regnal year and the Badal pillar inscription of his minister Bhatta Guravamishra provide information about his reign
According to a few short passages in the Samguk Yusa, an 11th-century Korean chronicle, Heo Hwang-ok, consort of Suro of Geumgwan Gaya was originally a princess born in the ancient kingdom of Ayodhya (in modern day India).[3] She was the first queen of Geumgwan Gaya, and is considered an ancestor by several Korean lineages. Archeologists discovered a stone with two fish kissing each other, a symbol of the Gaya kingdom that is unique to the Mishra royal family in Ayodhya, India. This royal link provides further evidence that there was an active commercial engagements between India and Korea since the queen’s arrival to Korea in the year 48 CE.[4]
Members of both the Heo lineages (including the clans of Gimhae, Gongam, Yangcheon, Taein, and Hayang) and the Gimhae Kim lineage consider themselves descendants of Heo Hwang-ok and King Suro. Two of the couple’s ten sons chose the mother’s name. The Heo clans trace their origins to them, and regard Heo as the founder of their lines. The Gimhae Kims trace their origin to the other eight sons.
Mishras have historically been martial Brahmins – “Mishra” or Misra is also an Indian surname, normally associated with the Brahmin mostly it is similar to or Maitreya or Maitra or Maitri friend Mishra and written in devnagri script look almost identical and both have same meaning. It is one of the most widespread Brahmin surnames in the fertile gangetic plain region and in the Indian states of Panjab, Orissa, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan , Assam and West Bengal.
Gautama Maharishi (Hindi: गौतम महर्षि, Malay: Kutama Maharisi, Tamil : Kautaman, Telugu: గౌతమ మహర్షి, Thai: โคตมะ) is one of the Saptarishis (Seven Great Sages Rishi of the current Manvantara (seventh).[1] He was one of the Maharishis of Vedic times, known to have been the discoverer of Mantras — ‘Mantra-drashtaa’, in Sanskrit. The Rig Veda has several suktas (Sanskrit: ‘hymns’) that go with his name. He was the son of Rahugana, belonging to the line of Angiras. The name Angirasas is applied generically to several Puranic individuals and things; a class of Pitris, the ancestors of man according to Hindu Vedic writings, and probably descended from the sage Angiras. In the Rigveda, Agni is sometimes referred to as Angiras or as a descendant of Angiras (RV 1.1). In the Rigveda, Indra drives out cows from where they had been imprisoned by either a demon (Vala) or multiple demons (the Panis) and gifts them to the Angirasas (RV 3.31, 10.108 and a reference in 8.14). Mandala 6 of the Rigveda is attributed to a family of Angirasas.
Ayodhya pronunciation (help·info) (Sanskrit: अयोध्या, Urdu: ایودھیا, IAST Ayodhyā), also known as Saket (Sanskrit: साकेत, Urdu: ساکیت ) is an ancient city of India, birthplace of the Hindu avatar Rama, and setting of the epic Ramayana. It is located adjacent to the Faizabad district of in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, with which it has merged because of rapid settlement. Ayodhya used to be the capital of the ancient Kosala Kingdom, and has an average elevation of 93 meters (305 feet)
Ayodhya is located on the right bank of the river Saryu, 6 km from Faizabad. This town is closely associated with Rama, seventh incarnation of Vishnu. According to the Ramayana, the city is 9,000 years old, and was founded by Manu, the first man in the Vedas, and law-giver of the Hindus. Other sources hold that it was founded by its namesake, King Ayudh. For centuries, it was the capital for the Surya dynasty, of which Lord Rama was the most celebrated king. At the time it was known as Kaushaldesa.
Skanda and other puranas list Ayodhya as one of the seven most sacred cities of India, as it has been the backdrop for much of Hindu scripture. Today it is predominantly a religious destination with its historical significance and sacred temples. The Atharvaveda described Ayodhya as “a city built by Gods and being prosperous as paradise itself.”
Its first ruling king was Ikshvaku, of the solar clan Suryavansa and eldest son of Vaivasvata Manu. The sixth king of this line, Prithu, is linguistically the etymology of earth, or `Prithivi’. Mandhatri was a later king of the region, and the 31st king of his descent was Harischandra, known for his truthfulness, or Sathya-sandhata. His lineeage was Surya Vamsa and, in turn known for their honesty as rulers. Raja Sagar of the same clan performed the Asvamedha Yajna, and mythology holds that his great-grandson Bhagiratha brought the river Ganges to the earth through penance. Later came the great King Raghu, after whom the dynasty was called Raghuvamsa. His grandson was Raja Dasaratha, of the Kausala dynasty, and father of Rama
In the first centuries of the common era, it was called Saketa. Śāketa or 沙奇 (Pinyin: Shāqí) was conquered by the Kushan/Yuezhi Emperor Kanishka c. 127 CE, who made it administrative center of his eastern territories.[8][9] The name occurs again in Faxian as 沙祗 (Pinyin: Shāzhī) in the early 5th century. It is not clear when the name changed, but by the time of the visit of the Chinese pilgrim monk, Xuanzang, c. 636 CE, it was known as Ayodhya.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayodhya
In Sanskrit, Saket (Sanskrit: साकेत) means Heaven, thus a place where God resides. Saket can be alternatively used for Heaven. Saket was the ancient name of the city of Ayodhya, an important Hindu religious place, said to be the birthplace of Lord Rama. Saket was the name of the famous epic Hindi poetic work of Maithili Sharan Gupt, an account of the Ramayana through the eyes of Urmila, a lesser known character. When used as a name Saket is usually spelled as “Saketh”. In Telugu, “Saketh” is written like this: సకేథ్ . Many sources claim that “Saketh” means an ambitious man/boy, who likes striving towards a goal by themselves.
In Buddhism, the place is thought to be where the sons of Okkaka founded a city
RAMA, THE GREAT KING OF SUMER, ELAM AND INDUS
By Ranajit Pal
Rama and Bharata in the Highly Authentic Sumerian King-List
Fortunately, a study of Sumerian history provides a fairly vivid flesh-and-blood picture of Rama. The highly authentic Sumerian King-list appear such hallowed names as Bharat (Warad) Sin and Rim Sin. Sin was the Moon god Chandra and as the cuneiform symbol for ‘Rim’ can also be read as ‘Ram’, Rim Sin is the same as Rama Chandra. In the Sumerian texts Ram-Sin is said to be from Elam which links him to Indo-Iran. Rama was the longest reigning monarch of Mesopotamia who ruled for 60 years. Bharat Sin ruled for 12 years (1834-1822 BC), exactly as stated in the Dasaratha Jataka. The Jataka statement, “Years sixty times hundred, and ten thousand more, all told, / Reigned strong-armed Rama”, only means that Rama reigned for sixty years which agrees exactly with the data of Assyriologists. Ayodhya may be Agade the capital of Sargon which has not yet been identified. It is possible that Agade was near Der or the Heart near Harayu or Sarayu. Learned scholars like D. P. Mishra were aware that Rama could be from the Herat area. The noted linguist Sukumar Sen also noted that Rama is a sacred name in the Avesta where he is mentioned together with Vayu. Rama is called Rama Margaveya in some texts from which Dr. Sen concluded that he hailed from Margiana. The Cambridge Ancient History contains priceless information relevant to Indian ancient history. The Sumerian records furnish the first date of the Indus era – the war with Ravana took place in 1794 BC. The significance of the fact Ram-Sin’s reign (60 years) was the longest in Sumerian history has been lost on most writers. There are two Ram-Sins in Sumerian history.
Raghupati Rama in the Old Testament of the Bible
Although, according to historians like R. Thapar, the Bible is irrelevant in Indian history, a careful study of it provides invaluable information about Raghupati Rama (Laghumal) that help in unraveling the ‘dark backward and abysm of time’. A Genesis story in the Old Testament runs as follows:
“At that time Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal, king of Goyim went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). ”
Amraphel is interpreted by most scholars as a contraction of Hammurabi-ilu but the names of Arioch king of Larsa and Kedorlaomer king of Elam need careful study. The name seems to correspond to Kudur-lahgumal which occurs in three late Babylonian legends, one of which is in poetical form. Besides Kudur-lahgumal, two of these tablets also mention Eri-Aku, son of Durmah-ilani, and one of them refers to Tudhul(a) or Tidal which prove the veracity of the Biblical tradition. The name Durmah is an echo of Dharma and cannot but be related to Indian history.
Durmah-ilani Of The Babylonian Texts Was Dasaratha, Father of Rama
Kudur Mabuk is frequently described in the literature as a tribal Shaikh which is sadly inappropriate. The term Shaikh should more appropriately be replaced by Saka which links him to the Indo-Iranians or Indo-Aryans. This is related to the fact that Gotama Buddha was called a Shakya. This must be the reason why the Buddhists considered Rama as their hero although scholars like Sir Harold Bailey have ascribed this to pure opportunism. The term Mabuk also appears to be related to the epithet Mahabhaga. It may be mentioned that Gotama was called a Bhagava which corresponds to the Babylonian title of Bagapa. This sheds light on the significance of the name Durmah-ilani. The name Tusratta of some later Mitannian kings appears to be an echo of Dasaratha. Margaret S. Drower translates Tusratta’s name ‘owner of terrible chariots’ but it may in fact be ‘Owner of Ten Chariots’ or ‘Ten-fold Chariots’, echoing Dasratha’s name. Dasaratha may have led a confederacy of ten kings. The name has echoes in the later names like Aryaratha.
A Ram-Chapel at UR
One of the major triumphs of modern archaeology was the hair-raising discoveries of Sir Leonard Woolley at Ur. Amidst the ruins of Ur, he unearthed a Ram-Chapel but totally missed its import in world history. This crucial finding not only bridges the wide gaps between Indian tradition and archaeology but also unfolds the historic bonds that once united ancient India, Iran and Mesopotamia. Ram-Sin of Larsa to whose memory this chapel was dedicated must have been Rama of Valmiki.
Unidentified Rock-Cut Relief Near Sutala – Rama and Sita?
“The rock carvings of Iran, in spite of a century of study, are still inadequately published.”, wrote N. C. Debevoise in 1942. The fact is that even after 150 years of study these are still being interpreted from a very primitive perspective that ignores that the Indian and Iranian traditions are inextricably linked. This was known to great scholars like Sir Aurel Stein and Sir Charles Eliot but modern scholars have generally overlooked it.
One of the best preserved ancient reliefs is one near the ancient site of Kurangun on a high cliff which can be seen from afar. In the main scene, which is enclosed in a rectangular frame, a god sits on a throne formed by the coils of a serpent which he holds by the neck. He also holds a vessel from which two streams of water flow. One stream forms a canopy over the god and a goddess behind him and is probably caught…. The throne formed by the coils of a serpent is reminiscent of Hanuman seated on his coiled tail which is a common theme in later Indian art. The large number of squat pig-tailed figures may be a representation of the Vanaras (Amorites).
It has to be remembered that during Elamite rule Kurangun was a dual capital with Susa, That Ram-Sin was an Elamite is known from the Sumerian records but where in Elam was his capital? His father came from Der which resembles the name of Mohenjodaro (probably Maha-Anga-Dvara). Did Elam of the Sumerians include the lands further East ? Although the standard texts on Iran do not mention it, the most sacred figure of ancient Iran was Rama. Writers like R. N. Frye have missed that an early ancestor of Darius-I was Arya Ram-anna whose name bears a clear echo of `Ram’ and that the name of the first Sasanian king Ram Behist is also a remembrance of Rama. Ram-Sahristan (Suryasthana?) was the famous capital of the Surens of Seistan and many Sasanian city-names echo Rama. the name of Sih-talu or Sutala near Kurangun. Sutala was the capital of Bali, an enemy of Rama, but after his death it must have been taken over by kings who were loyal to Ram-Sin. That Bali was a king of Iran has been forgotten. In Sumerian myth, Balih, son of Etana ruled Kish for 400 years. In the Ramayana also Kishkindhya (Kish-Khanda?) was the capital of Sugreeva, brother of Bali.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asioi
Scythian chalice
Scythian bowl, 5th century BC found at Castelu, Romania. In display at Constanţa Museum of National History.
It was the Sorabol people of southeast Korea who formed Silla and Pak Hyokkose, supposedly of miraculous birth, was the first king. (Ref. 305)
The Tale of Buluqiya who journeys across desert to subterranean kingdom where Queen Yamlika offers him the drink of juice of magic plant giving eternal youth; and he is spirited off to meet Sakhr, King of the Demon World who will never grow old and die, for he has drunk from the Fountain of Life
http://archaeology.jp/sites/2010/makimuku.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrosia
http://www.aakkl.helsinki.fi/melammu/database/gen_html/a0000737.php
http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4017
http://www.fresno.k12.ca.us/divdept/sscience/dawnciv6.htm
Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto was the second of the “three noble children” born when Izanagi-no-Mikoto, the god who created the first land, Onogoro-shima, was cleansing himself of his sins while bathing himself after escaping the underworld and the clutches of his enraged dead wife, Izanami-no-Mikoto. Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto was born when he washed out of Izanagi-no-Mikoto’s right eye.[1] However, in an alternate story, Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto was born from a mirror made of white copper in Izanagi-no-Mikoto’s right hand.
Littleton’s hypothesis involves the 3-headed monster Trisiras or Viśvarūpa, which has a mythological parallel because Indra killed it after giving it soma, wine, and food
After climbing a celestial ladder, Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto lived in the heavens, also known as Takamagahara, with his sister Amaterasu Omikami, the sun goddess.
The wolf, falcon, deer and horse were important symbolic animals.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashina_(clan)According to the New Book of Tang, the Ashina were related to the northern tribes of the Xiongnu, in particular they were of Tiele tribe by ancestral lineage.[8][9] As early as the 7th century, four theories about their mythical origins were recorded by the Book of Zhou, Book of Sui and Youyang Zazu:[10]
Ashina was one of ten sons born to a grey she-wolf (see Asena) in the north of Gaochang.[11]
The ancestor of the Ashina was a man from the Suo nation (north of Xiongnu) whose mother was a wolf, and a season goddess.[11]
The Ashina were mixture stocks from the Pingliang commandery of eastern Gansu.[12]
The Ashina descended from a skilled archer named Shemo, who had once fallen in love with a sea goddess west of Ashide cave.[13]
These stories were sometimes pieced together to form a chronologically narrative of early Ashina history. These stories also have parallels to folktales and legends of other Turkic peoples, for instance, the Uyghurs and the Wusun. About 460 they were subjugated by the Rouran, who ousted them from Xinjiang into the Altay Mountains, where the Ashina gradually emergedt is very interesting, that in 12-13 centuries the Mongolian tribe Chonos, (Tribe of Wolf) was supposed to be sacred – for example, when Jamuha took 70 Chonos-prisoners, he killed them by boiling without bloodshed.[citation needed]
The Dragon (Evren, also Ebren), also expressed as a Snake or Lizard, is the symbol of might and power. It is believed, especially in mountainous Central Asia, that dragons still live in the mountains of Tian Shan/Tengri Tagh and Altay. Dragons also symbolize the god Tengri (Tanrı) in ancient Turkic tradition, although dragons themselves are not worshipped as gods.
The legend of Timur (Temir) is the most ancient and well-known. Timur found a strange stone that fell from the sky (an iron ore meteorite), making the first iron sword from it.[citation needed] Today, the word “demir” means “iron”.
Turkic mythology was influenced by other local mythologies. For example, in Tatar mythology elements of Finnic and Indo-European myth co-exist. Subjects from Tatar mythology include Äbädä, Şüräle, Şekä, Pitsen, Tulpar, and Zilant.
The legend of Oghuz Khan is a central political mythology for Turkic peoples of Central Asia and eventually the Oghuz Turks who ruled in Anatolia and Iran
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythology_of_the_Turkic_and_Mongolian_peoples
Ashina (Chinese: 阿史那, Modern Chinese: (Pinyin): āshǐnà, (Wade-Giles): a-shih-na, Middle Chinese: (Guangyun) [ʔɑʃi̯ə˥nɑ˩], Asen, Asena, etc.) was a tribe and the ruling dynasty of the ancient Turks who rose to prominence in the mid-6th century when their leader, Bumin Khan, revolted against the Rouran. The two main branches of the family, one descended from Bumin and the other from his brother Istemi, ruled over the eastern and western parts of the Göktürk empire, respectively. The Ashina clan were considered to be the chosen of the sky god Tengri and the ruler (Kaghan) was the incarnation of the favor the sky god bestowed on the Turks. The Türks, like many of their subjects, were believers in Tengri. They venerated their ancestors, annually conducting special ceremonies at the ancestral cave from which they believed the Ashina had sprung.[1] Although the supreme deity of the Turks was Tengri, the sky god, it was the cult of the wolf that was politically far more important.[2] The Ashinas were a foresighted dynasty and named the state they established as Kök-Türk.[3] The wolf symbolizes honour and is also consideres the mother of most Turkic peoples. Asena (Ashina Tuwu) is the wolf mother of Bumin, the first Khan of the Göktürk
The recent re-reading of the Bugut inscription, the oldest inscription of the Ashina dynasty, written in Sogdian, by a Japanese team of philologists has proven that the name, known only with the Chinese transcription of Ashina, was in fact Ashinas. It is in fact known in later Arabic sources under this formThe term bori, used to identify the ruler’s retinue as ‘wolves’, probably also derived from one of the Iranian languages”, Carter Vaughin Findley has observed.[5]Former Dr. Zhu Xueyuan derives the name from the related Manchu word Aisin and the early tribe Wusun (Asin or Osin) pronounced earlier in archaic Chinese, a group of people which he highly considered as a Tungusic people. Zhu asserted that the Xiongnu’s tribe Juqu was evidently related to Juji (old pronouncing of Jurchen), and that the Yuezhi was belonged to another Tungusic tribe named Wuzhe, which could all ultimately traced back to the roots of Sushen.[7]
His opinion is seconded by the Hungarian researcher András Róna-Tas, who finds it highly plausible “that we are dealing with a royal family and clan of Iranian origin, almost certainly Saka”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wusun
The Wūsūn (Chinese: 烏孫; literally “Grandchildren of The Crow”) were an Indo-European[1] nomadic steppe people who, according to the Chinese histories, originally lived in western Gansu in northwest China near the Yuezhi people. After being defeated by the Xiongnu (circa 176 BCE) they fled to the region of the Ili river and (lake) Issyk Kul where they remained for at least five centuries and formed a powerful force.[2][3]
The Wūsūn (Chinese: 烏孫; literally “Grandchildren of The Crow”) were an Indo-European[1] nomadic steppe people who, according to the Chinese histories, originally lived in western Gansu in northwest China near the Yuezhi people.
They are mentioned in Chinese historical sources in 436 CE, when a Chinese envoy was sent to their country and the Wusun reciprocated.[4] Their later fate is connected with the Turkic Kaganates and the sudden reversals of fortune that fell on Central Asia and, specifically, the Zhetysu area. Considerable traces of their impact on surrounding peoples and events were left in Persian, Muslim, Turkic, and Russian sources extending from the 6th century CE to the present. The modern Uysyn who number approximately 250,000 people, are regarded by some as the modern descendants of the Wusun. The Uysyn have two branches, Dulat and Sary Uysyn (“Yellow Uysyn”).
This link is a map of the Assyrian Empire showing the 10 lost tribes of Israel exiled near the Scythian borders where they could easily have mixed with the Scythian nomads as early as the 6th century B.C. Kara means cold in Hebrew, and also both North and “black” in Khazari. It is also the Scythian name for “exile”.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wusun – CachedSharePtolemy (VI, 14, 177 CE) knew an Asman tribe, located east of the Volga … left in the wild, miraculously saved from hunger by suckling from a she-wolf, … Hanshu described them as occupying land that previously belonged to the Saka (Sai).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kambojas#cite_note-55The Maitraka Dynasty of Saurashtra, in all probability, belonged to the Kambojas, who had settled down in south-western India around the beginning of the Christian era. In the medieval era, the Kambojas are known to have seized north-west Bengal (Gauda and Radha) from the Palas of Bengal and established their own Kamboja-Pala Dynasty. Indian texts like Markandeya Purana,[202] Vishnu Dharmottari[203] Agni Purana,[204] Garuda Purana,[205] Arthashastra of Barhaspatya[206] and Brhatsamhita of Vrahamihira[207] attest Kamboja references in south-western and southern India.[190][208] The inscriptions of the medieval rulers of Vijayanagara of southern India also attest a Kamboja kingdom abutting on the borders of the Vijayanagara Empire, which may indicate that there was a Kamboja kingdom near Gujarat. Some Buddhist inscriptions found in the Pal caves, located about a mile north-west of Mhar in Raigad district of Maharashtra, contain a reference to a chief of a Kamboj dynasty, Prince Vishnupalita Kambhoja, as ruling in Kolaba (near Bombay) probably around the 2nd century CE.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kambojas#cite_note-Chakraberty-67http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kambojas#cite_note-Chakraberty-67
Glimpses of Ancient Panjab, 1966, p 23, Punjab (India); Panjab Past and Present, pp 9-10, Buddha Parkash; Raja Poros, 1990, Publication Buareau, Punjabi University, Patiala; History of Poros, 1967, pp 12,39, Buddha Prakash; History of Indian Buddhism: From the Origins to the Saka Era, 1988, p 100 – History. J. W. McCrindle, Romila Thapar, R. C. Majumdar etc also think that Ashvakas were Kamboja people
The hypothesis that the Hata clan were a Jewish Nestorian tribe was proposed by Saeki Yoshiro in 1908. Saeki developed a theory described by Ben-Ami Shillony being “somewhat similar” to that advanced by Norman McLeod in 1879.
In 1879 the Scottish businessman Norman McLeod, who had lived in Japan since 1867, published in Nagasaki Japan and the Lost Tribes of Israel. Based on “personal research and observation”, the book identified the Japanese as the descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes… Over thirty years later, in 1908, Saeki Yoshiro (1872-1965) a Waseda University professor, a Christian, and expert on Chinese Nestorians, published a book in which he developed a somewhat similar theory. According to Saeki, the Hata clan, which arrived from Korea and settled in Japan in the third century, was a Jewish-Nestorian tribe… Saiki’s writings spread the theory about “the common ancestry of the Japanese and the Jews” (Nichi-Yu dosoron) in Japan, a theory that was endorsed by some Christian group
Parama Kamboja Kingdom was mentioned in the epic Mahabharata to be on the far north west along with the Bahlika, Uttara Madra and Uttara Kuru countries. It is thought to be modern day Tajikistan, Parama Kambojas in Kurukshetra War
The translation of above passage by Kisari Mohan Ganguli [1883-1896] appears at the following website [2]. But many other scholars have translated the same verses differently. See the following:
“The six thousands Prabhadrarakastu (very handsome) Kamboja soldiers, resembling Yama (god of death) in fearful bearing and Kuber in riches (Vaisravana= Kuber, the god of riches), riding on the their golden chariots pulled by excellent steeds of the Parama Kamboja breed of diverse hues and decked with chains of gold, striking fear into the hearts of the hostile soldiers, with upraised weapons, with stretched bows and making their foes tremble with their showers of arrows and resolved to die together followed Dhristadyumna”. (See: Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, p 69, Dr J. L. Kamboj; The Kambojas Through the Ages, 2005, p 44, S Kirpal Singh)
Drona Parava of Mahabharata refers to 6000 soldiers from the Parama Kamboja group who had sided with the Pandavas against the Kauravas in the Kurukshetra war. They have been described as “very handsome, very fortunate Kambojas” (prabhadrakastu Kambojah),[4] extremely fierce, ‘Personification of Death’ (samanmrityo), fearful like Yama, the god of death and rich like Kuber i.e. god of treasure (Kambojah…. Yama. vaishravan.opamah: 7.23.42-44). They probably were mercenary soldiers who appear to have joined Kurukshetra war on invitation from Panchala prince Dhristadyumna
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Indo-Iranian Saka Scythians in Japan – Homuda = Kumuda
Homuda no Sumeramikoto, the Emperor Ojin Records possibly written in Baekje may have been the basis for the quotations in the Nihon Shoki. But textual criticism shows that scholars fleeing the destruction of the Baekje to Yamato wrote these histories and the authors of the Nihon Shoki heavily relied upon those sources.[5] This must be taken into account in relation to statements referring to old historic rivalries between the ancient Korean kingdoms of Silla, Goguryeo, and Baekje. The use of Baekje’s place names in Nihon Shoki is another piece of evidence that shows the history used Baekje
The author of Vayu Purana uses the name Kumuda-dvipa for Kusha-dvipa (Vayu I.48.34-36). ‘Kumuda is also a Puranic name of a mountain forming the northern buttress of the Mount Meru (i.e. Pamirs). In anterior Epic Age, Kumuda was the name given to high table-land of the Tartary located to north of the Himalaya range from which the Aryan race may have originally pushed their way southwards into Indian peninsula and preserved the name in their traditions as a relic of old mountain worship (O. Thompson, A History of Ancient Geography, London 1965). Thus, the Kumuda-dvipa lay close north to the Pamirs. Lying in the Transoxiana (in Saka-dvipa), this Komuda or Kumuda-dvipa of the Puranic texts is often identified as the ancient Kamboja land which corresponds to the Parama Kamboja referred to in the Sabha Parava of Mahabharata.
Ōjin was traditionally identified as the father of Emperor Nintoku, who acceded after Ōjin’s death.[5] Ōjin has been deified as Hachiman Daimyōjin, regarded as the guardian of warriors. The Hata Clan considered him their guardian Kami.
Ōjin is regarded by historians as a “legendary emperor”. The name Ōjin Tennō was assigned to him posthumously by later generations. Ōjin is also identified by some as the earliest “historical” emperor.[4]
The Hata clan(秦氏, はたし) was an immigrant clan active in Japan since the Kofun period, according to the epic history Nihonshoki.
Hata is the Japanese reading of the Chinese (state and dynasty) name 秦 given to the Qin Dynasty (the real family name was Ying), and given to their descendants established in Japan. The Nihonshoki presents the Hata as a clan or house, and not as a tribe; also only the members of the head family had the right to use the name of Hata.
The Hata can be compared to other families who came from the continent during the Kofun period: the descendants of the Chinese Han Dynasty, by Prince Achi no Omi, ancestor of the Yamato no Aya clan, the Sakanoue clan, the Tamura clan, the Harada and the Akizuki clan; also, the descendants of the Chinese Cao Wei Dynasty by the Takamuko clan. The descendants of Baekje (Kudara in Japanese) who sought refuge in Japan, for example the Yamato no Fubito[1] (also called Yamato no Fubito-和史 later given a new title, Takano no Asomi-高野朝臣), Kudara no Konikishi clan,[2] and the Sue clan.
The Hata are mentioned by name more often than almost any other immigrant clan in the Nihonshoki, one of Heian-period Japan’s epics, combining mythology and history.
The first leader of the Hata to arrive in Japan, Uzumasa-no-Kimi-Sukune, arrived during the reign of Emperor Chūai, in the 2nd century CE. According to the epic, he and his followers were greeted warmly, and Uzumasa was granted a high government position.
Roughly one hundred years later, during the reign of Emperor Ōjin, a Hata prince called Yuzuki no Kimi visited Japan from the Kingdom of Baekje in Korea. He said he had come from Baekje, and he wanted to emigrate to Japan, but that Silla would not permit him to do so. So 120 persons of his clan were staying at Minama. Having enjoyed his experience, he left Japan and returned with members of his clan “from 120 districts of his own land”, as well as a massive hoard of treasures, including jewels, exotic textiles, and silver and gold, which were presented to the Emperor as a gift.
Origins of Hata Clan While most scholars believe the family descended from the Emperors of Qin, others attest that the clan was originally from Central Asia. Ken Joseph Jr explains that Yuzuki no Kimi means Lord of Yuzuki, and he found a place written 弓月 in Central Asia.
Yakusa-no-Ikazuchi (eight thunder gods).
When Yomotsu-Shiko-Me nearly caught him up, Izanagi threw his belongings to her. His belongings turned a bamboo shoot and a wild vine. While Yomotsu-Shiko-Me was eating them Izanagi ran away.
Now, Yakusa-no-Ikazuchi(eight thunder gods) began to run after him. Although Izanagi desperately tried to resist them with a sword and climbed Yomotsu-Hira-Saka,
Izanagi, who was grieved at the death of Izanami, had cut Kagutsuchi in two with a single stroke of his sword and buried the corpse of the goddess to Mt. Hiba (this mountain is supposed to be in Izumo). However, Izanagi, who couldn’t, for the life of him, forget Izanami , went down the slope called Yomotsu-Hira-Saka and approached the gate of Yomotsu-Kuni (the land of the dead).Izanagi found a peach tree and he threw a peach at Yakusa-no-Ikazuchi to expel. The peach had a mysterious power to drive a demon away –– Source
According to the theory which most scholars follow, the clan was descended from Prince Yuzuki no Kimi, who in turn was a descendant of the first Emperor of Qin of the Qin Dynasty.[3]
Prince Yuzuki (弓月君?) had become a Korean prince, and emigrated to Japan in 283 with a great number of his countrymen.They are said to have come to Japan from China through the Chinese Lelang Commandery then through the Kingdom of Baekje (both on the Korean peninsula). Lelang, near what is today Pyongyang, was the greatest of the Four Commanderies of Han created in 108 BC in the areas captured after the conquest of the Wiman Joseon state (194 BC-108 BC) by Emperor Wu of the Chinese Han Dynasty, which corresponds to the current North Korea. A flux of Chinese immigration into the Korean peninsula continued without cessation, implanting there Chinese culture and technology. Some scholars say Hata clan did not come from Baekje, but Silla or Gaya area. The Hata are said to have been adept at financial matters, and to have introduced silk raising and weaving to Japan. For this reason, they may have been associated with the kagome crest, a lattice shape found in basket-weaving. During the reign of Emperor Nintoku (313-399), the members of the clan were sent to diverse parts of the country to spread the knowledge and practice of sericulture. Members of this clan also served as financial advisors to the Yamato Court for several centuries. Originally landing and settling in Izumo and the San’yō region, Hata eventually settled in the areas of what are now Japan’s most major cities. They are said to have aided in the establishment of Heian-kyō (modern-day Kyoto), and of many Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, including Fushimi Inari Taisha, Matsunoo Taisha, and Kōryū-ji. This name was changed to Koremune in 880. Emperor Yūryaku granted the clan the family name of Uzumasa in 471, in honor of Sake no kimi’s contributions to the spread of sericulture. A number of samurai clans, including the Chōsokabe clan of Shikoku, the Kawakatsu clan of Tamba and the Jinbō clan of Echigo province, claimed descent from the Hata. The Koremune clan, also descended from the Emperor of Qin, were related to the origins of the Hata as well. Prince Koman-O, in the reign of Emperor Ōjin (c. 310), came to dwell in Japan. His successors received the name Hata. The wife of Shimazu Tadahisa (1179 –1227) (son of Minamoto no Yoritomo and ancestor of the Shimazu clan of Kyūshū), was a daughter of Koremune H
In addition, many towns in Japan are named after the clan, such as Ohata, Yahata, and Hatano. The population of Neyagawa in Osaka Prefecture includes a number of people who claim descent from the Hata. The Hata were also claimed as ancestors by Zeami Motokiyo, the premiere Noh playwright in history, who attributed the origins of Noh to Hata no Kawakatsu. According to Zeami’s writings, Kōkatsu, the ancestor of both the Kanze and Komparu Noh lineages, was the first to introduce kagura Shinto ritual dances to Japan in the sixth century; this form would later evolve into sarugaku and then into Noh.
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According to the Kojiki and the Nihonshoki, Ōjin was the son of the Emperor Chūai and his consort Jingū. As Chūai died before Ōjin’s birth, his mother Jingū became the de facto ruler. The historical chronicles being in the 8th century, throw a veil over the period, so that we see dimly whether the figures were mere legend and throw the veracity of the dates into question. Ōjin was said to have been born in Tsukushi in 200 AD, but looking at the historical events, 4th century is thought to be more realistic etable; realistically sometime in the late 4th century) on the return of his mother from the invasion of the hotly controversial promised land (Korea?).
An interesting detail is Emperor Ojin’s name. He was called Homuda Sumero-no-mikoto.
“Over 1800 years ago, Cambodia was a kingdom of Indian settlers, called Kambuja or Kambojas. These Indians were called Khmers.
The Kamboj tribe of the Greater Punjab and the Kom and Kata of the Siah-Posh tribe in the Nuristan province of Afghanistan have been identified by scholars to represent some of the modern descendants of the Kambojas. The modern Kamboj are estimated to number around 1.5 million, while other descendants of the Kambojas have merged with other castes of the Indian sub-continent like the Khatris, Rajputs, Jats, Arain and others.
The Kambojs, by tradition, are divided into fifty-two and eighty-four clans. The fifty-two clans are said to be descendants of a cadet branch and the eighty-four from the elder branch. This division is said to have originated with the younger and elder military divisions under which the Kambojas had fought the Kurukshetra War. Numerous clan names overlap with those of other kshatriyas and the Rajput castes of the north-west India, suggesting that some of the kshatriya and Rajput clans of the north-west have descended from the ancient Kambojas For reference to overlap of the Kamboj/Kshatriya clan names, see Glossary of Tribes, II, p 444, fn. iii.
Another branch of the Scythian Cambysene reached the Tibetan Plateau where they mixed with the locals, and some Tibetans are still called Kambojas.
The mighty Khmer Empire flourished over much of Southeast Asia during the 12th century. Angor Wat (the temple above), the largest religious building in the world, was built during this period, representing the power of the empire. Created by a succession of the kings glorifying their godlike power, the temples of Angkor Thom (which includes Angkor Wat) span nine square kilometers. Jayavarman VII built most of the temples during his reign from 1181-1220. He was the son of Suryavarman II, who built Angkor Wat itself.”
“Cambodia’s religious, royal and cultural traditions originated from India. That influence can be seen today in the country’s traditional literature, dance, Hindu and Buddhist religions and architecture.
Today’s Cambodia occupies only a small corner of the Khmer Empire that from the 9th to the14th centuries extended over a large part of what we now know as Southeast Asia. The Khmers called their land Kampuchea or Kambuja, a name that was westernized as Cambodia.”
“Angkor Thom is the modern name of the capital city of Yasodharapura,founded by King Yasovarman.”
“The city was enclosed by a wall which was surrounded by a moat. It was square in shape, each side measuring more than three kilometres, with the grand temple of Bayon in the centre, containing fifty towers. This temple is second only in size to Angkor Vat. Everything in the city was conceived on a truly noble scale; “the city of Yasodharapura was one of the grandest cities in the whole world in that age.”
It was a city full of grandeur and glory.”
“In the Kambuja empire, Hinduism, specially Saivism, was the predominant religion. It had become the national religion, though Vaishnavism and Buddhism occasionally enjoyed royal patronage. Sanskrit became the official language. Several Sanskrit inscriptions, discovered there, were composed in beautiful Kavya style.”
“Indian religious texts, the Ramayana, the Mahabharat and the Puranas, were studied with keen interest. Indian books of medicine and Indian methods of treatment were very popular. There were several asramas founded and maintained by royal charity and private munificence. They formed a salient feature of the religious and social life in Kambuja and served there as radiating centres of Hindu culture and religion. In short, the people of Kambuja embraced the Hindu religion, culture and civilization, and political and social ideas and customs of Hindus.”
“The Angkorian period lasted from the early ninth century to the early fifteenth century A.D. In terms of cultural accomplishments and
political power, this was the golden age of Khmer civilization. The great temple cities of the Angkorian region, located near the modern
town of Siem Reab, are a lasting monument to the greatness of Jayavarman II’s successors. The kingdom founded by Jayavarman II also gave modern-day Cambodia, or Kampuchea, its name, it was known as Kambuja, named after an early northwest Indian state called Kamboja, from which the current forms of the name have been derived.”
Russell R. Ross. Excerpted from Cambodia: A Country Study. Federal
Research Division of the Library of Congress.
https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/soc.culture.cambodia/AUCv5lvyFHk
http://www.thanhsiang.org/education/dip3-13.htm
great emperor, Yasovarman (889-900 AD) established a Saugatasrama which was specially meant for the Buddhist monks, and elaborate regulations were laid down for the guidance of this asrama or hermitage. He is also said to have laid the foundations of a Brahmasrama (monastery for the devotees of Brahma) and Vaisnavasrama (monastery for the worshippers of Visnu). It
appears that during his reign, Buddhism, Brahmanism and Vasnavism flourished in Cambodia. Three Sanskrit inscriptions of Bat Cum (near Angkor Thom) of 960 AD belonging to the reign of Rajendravarman II (944-968 AD) throw interesting light on the religious conditions of the period. They mention invocations to the Buddha, Lokesvara, Vajrapani and Prajnaparmita. During the reign of Jayavarman V (968-1001), the successor of Rajendravarman II, Mahayana Buddhism grew in importance. One of his ministers is said to have played an important role in the development of Buddhism in Cambodia in the second half of the tenth century AD. An inscription of Wat Sithar in southern Cambodia belonging to the reign of Jayavarinan V has been found near Phnom Pehn. This inscription contains instructions of the king in support of Buddhist practices and invokes the three forms of existence of the Buddha. It also refers to the important of books in Buddhist philosophy and treatises relating to Mahayana Buddhism. The inscription also says that a Brahmana priest should be well-versed in Buddhist learning and practices and should recite Buddhist prayers. Another inscription of Phnom Pehn near Monkol-borei in central Cambodia, dated 985-86 AD deals with the erection of a statue of Prajnaparmita and an image of Lokesvara. In this way, up to the tenth century AD Mahayana Buddhism had become quite prominent. But there are also some references to the existence of Theravada Buddhism in Cambodia.
The second half of the twelth century is significant because it not only witnessed the growing importance of Buddhism in Cambodia but it also marked the beginning of Cambodia’s political and cultural connections with Sri Lanka. From now onwards monks, envoys and merchants appear to have travelled to Cambodia through Burma. The account of Culavamsa indicates the existence of close political and cultural connections between them during this time.
Pramakramabahu I, the king of Sri Lanka,is said to have sent a princess as a bride probably for Jayavarman VII, son of Dharanindravarman II (1150-1160), who was the crown prince. She was seized by the king of Ramanna, who is also said to have apprehended and imprisoned some Sinhalese envoys on the charge that they were taking a letter to the king of Kambuja. Kambuja occurs along with Aramana in a number of inscriptions of Nissankamalla.
These references point to the existence of continued relationship between Cambodia and Sri Lanka in the Polonnaru period. King Jayavarman VII (1181-1220AD) was a devout Buddhist and received posthumously the title of Mahaparamasaugata. His records express beautifully the typical Buddhist view of life, particularly the feelings of charity and compassion towards the
whole universe. His role in the founding of religious institution was magnificent. The account of royal donations contained in the Ta Prohm.
Inscription of Jayavarman VII makes an interesting reading and reveals the magnitude of the resources and depth of religious sentiments of the king. It concerns the Rajavihara (i.e. the temple of Ta Prohm) and its adjuncts where the king set up an image of his mother as Prajnaparamita. As many as 66,625 people were employed in the service of the deities of the temple and 3,400 villages were given for defraying its expenses. All this was meant for a single group of temples. And the inscription informs us that there were 798
temples and 102 hospitals in the whole kingdom, and all of them were given full support by the king. In conclusion, the king expresses the hope that his mother might be delivered from the ocean of births. All the inscriptions of Jayavarman VII make it quite clear that he patronised Theravada Buddhism.
One of the monks who returned to Burma with Capata was Tamalinda Mahathera, who most probably was the son of the Cambodian king Jayavarman VII. A Sanskrit inscription of Jayavarman VII gives us interesting information about the religious mood of the queen of Jayavarman VII.
It is said that when Jayavarman first went to Campa, his wife, Jayarajadevi, showed her conjugal fidelity by undergoing austerities of diverse types and of long duration. She was then initiated to Buddhism by her elder sister. It is said that she performed a ceremony by which she could see before her the image of her absent husband. When her husband returned, she increased her pious and charitable works. These included a dramatic performance, the plot of which was drawn from the Jatakas and which was acted by a body of nuns
recruited from among castaway girls. Commenting on the remarkable change of Jayavarman VII from being worshipper of Siva to a follower of Theravada, Coedes writes “From the day when the sovereign ceased to be Siva descended to earth, or living Buddha, as Jayavarman VII had been, the royal dynasty failed any longer to inspire the people with the religious respect which enabled it to accomplish great enterprises. Under the threat of the anarchical spirit of Sinhalese Buddhism his prestige diminished, his temporal power crumbled away, and the god-king was thrown down the altar.”
Theravada Buddhism had become the predominant religion of the people of Angkor by the end of Jayavarman”s reign.
The earliest known kingdom in Cambodia that was founded in the lower valley of the Mekong in the first century AD was Funan. According to a local legend, the kingdom was founded by an Indian Brahmana named Kaundinya (called Hun-tien by the Chinese sources), who got married to the local queen. The archaeological finds and the Chinese chronicles prove that from the end of the fifth century AD, Buddhism flourished in Cambodia, though it did not occupy a dominant position, as it was less popular than some forms
of Brahmanical religion like Saivism. Among the kings of the Funan dynasty the reign of Kaundinya Jayavarman (478-514 AD) and Rudravarman (514-539 AD) were important from religious and cultural point of view. Kaundinya Jayavarman sent a mission to China under the leadership of a Buddhist monk named Nagasena. The mission also carried a coral image of the Buddha to the Chinese Emperor Wu-ti, who was a patron of Buddhism. During the reign of the same Chinese emperor, two learned monks from Funan came to China in the early years of the sixth century AD to translate the Buddhist scriptures.
For nomenclature Aspasii, Hipasii, see: Olaf Caroe, The Pathans, 1958, pp 37, 55-56. Pliny also refers to horse clans like Aseni, Asoi living in north-west of India (which were none-else than the Ashvayana and Ashvakayana Kambojas of Indian texts). See: Hist. Nat. VI 21.8-23.11; See Ancient India as Described by Megasthenes and Arrian, Trans. and edited by J. W. McCrindle, Calcutta and Bombay,: Thacker, Spink, 1877, 30-174.
Political History of Ancient India, 1996, Commentary, p 719, B. N. Mukerjee. Cf: “It appears likely that like the Yue-chis, the Scythians had also occupied a part of Transoxiana before conquering Bactria. If the Tokhario, who were the same as or affiliated with Yue-chihs, and who were mistaken as Scythian people, particiapated in the same series of invasions of Bactria of the Greeks, then it may be inferred that eastern Bactria was conquered by Yue-chis and the western by other nomadic people in about the same period. In other words, the Greek rule in Bactria was put to end in c 130/29 BC due to invasion by the Great Yue-chis and the Scythians Sakas nomads (Commentary: Political History of Ancient India, 1996, p 692-93, B.N. Mukerjee). It is notable that before its occupation by Tukhara Yue-chis, Badakashan formed a part of ancient Kamboja i.e. Parama Kamboja country. But after its occupation by the Tukharas in second century BC, it became a part of Tukharistan. Around 4th-5th century, when the fortunes of the Tukharas finally died down, the original population of Kambojas re-asserted itself and the region again started to be called by its ancient name Kamboja (See:
Bhartya Itihaas ki Ruprekha, p 534, J.C. Vidyalankar; Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, pp 129, 300 J.L. Kamboj; Kambojas Through the Ages, 2005, p 159, S Kirpal Singh). There are several later-time references to this Kamboja of Pamirs/Badakshan. Raghuvamsha, a 5th c Sanskrit play by Kalidasa, attests their presence on river Vamkshu (Oxus) as neighbors to the Hunas (4.68-70). They have also been attested as Kiumito by 7th c Chinese pilgrim Hiun Tsang. Eighth century king of Kashmir, king Lalitadiya had invaded the Oxian Kambojas as is attested by Rajatarangini of Kalhana (See: Rajatarangini 4.163-65). Here they are mentioned as living in the eastern parts of the Oxus valley as neighbors to the Tukharas who were living in western parts of Oxus valley (See: The Land of the Kambojas, Purana, Vol V, No, July 1962, p 250, D. C. Sircar). These Kambojas apparently were descendants of that section of the Kambojas who, instead of leaving their ancestral land during second c BC under assault from Ta Yue-chi, had compromised with the invaders and had decided to stay put in their ancestral land instead of moving to Helmond valley or to the Kabol valley. There are other references which equate Kamboja= Tokhara. A Buddhist Sanskrit Vinaya text (N. Dutt, Gilgit Manuscripts, III, 3, 136, quoted in B.S.O.A.S XIII, 404) has the expression satam Kambojikanam kanayanam i.e a hundred maidens from Kamboja. This has been rendered in Tibetan as Tho-gar yul-gyi bu-mo brgya and in Mongolian as Togar ulus-un yagun ükin. Thus Kamboja has been rendered as Tho-gar or Togar. And Tho-gar/Togar is Tibetan/Mongolian names for Tokhar/Tukhar. See refs: Irano-Indica III, H. W. Bailey, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 13, No. 2, 1950, pp. 389-409; see also: Ancient Kamboja, Iran and Islam, 1971, p 66, H. W. Bailey.
The Kambojas (Sanskrit: कम्बोज, Kamboja; Persian: کمبوہ, Kambūh) were a kshatriya tribe of Iron Age India, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature. Modern scholars conclude that the Kambojas were an Avestan speaking Eastern Iranian tribe at the boundary of the Indo-Aryans and the Iranians, and appear to have moved from the Iranian into the Indo-Aryan sphere over time.
The names Kamboja (Cambyses) and Kuru (Cyrus) occur as place names both in Transcaucasia,[135][136] in Media Atrapatein, close to the northern Hindu Kush[137][138][139] and south of the Hindu Kush in the Indian sub-continent.[140] and the name Cambysene or Cambyses may transliterate into Kamboja and the name Cyrus into Kuru of the Sanskrit texts.[65] These invading Aryan Central Asian nomads may have been Scythian tribes from the “Cyrus” (Kurosh) and “Cambyses” (Kambujiya) valleys, around the “Cambysene” province of Armenia Major west of the Caspian Sea.
The Kambojas migrated into India during the Indo-Scythian invasion from the 2nd century BCE to 5th century CE.
most scholars now agree that the Kambojas were Iranians,[12][13][14][15] cognate with the Indo-Scythians. The Kambojas are also described as a royal clan of the Sakas.[16][17][18][19][20][21][22] This seems to be confirmed by the Mathura lion capital inscriptions made by Rajuvula and by one of the Edicts of Asoka.[18][23] The Aśvakas were a subtribe of the Kambojas.In the Mahabharata and in Pali literature, Kambojas appear in the characteristic Iranian roles of horsemen and breeders of notable horses
Stephen of Byzantium defines Kambysēnē as a Persian country and relates the name to the Achaemenid king Cambyses.[143][144][145] The Greek form Kambysēnē must have been derived from an indigenous name, corresponding to Armenian Kʿambēčan, with the common ending -ēnē. In Georgian it is written Kambečovani, in Arabic Qambīzān.[146] In Sanskrit it is believed to have been transliterated as Kamboja. The region Cambysene and the rivers Cyrus and Cambyses are believed to have borne these name since remote antiquity. The territorial name Cambysene (Gk. Kambysēnē) as well as the river names Cyrus (Kurosh) and Cambyses (Kambujiya) occurring in Strabo’s Geography and Pliny’s Histories may be related to the ethno-geographical name Kambuja/Kamboja and Kuru of the Sanskrit texts.[65][147]
The hordes who had participated in the earlier invasion of Iran along with the Yauteyas were identified as the Kambysene Scythians living around the Kambysene region, near the Caucasus Mountains in ancient Armenia. Later, they became the Kuru-Kambojas of the Sanskrit texts.[67] These Kuru-Kamboja later mixed with the mountain-based Parsa-Xsayatia (Purush-Khattis) Iranians[148] giving rise to the Achaemenid dynastic line of Persia.[67]
Before leaving the Caspian region for Iran and Afghanistan in the 9th and 8th centuries BCE these people may have been living in the valleys of Cyrus and Cambyses in Armenia. After migrating southwards to the Indian sub-continent they split-up into two clans, Kurus and Kambojas[131][132] first settling in the Trans-Himalayan region as Uttarakurus and Parama Kambojas before moving to regions near the Himalayas as Kurus (south-east Punjab or Kuruksetra) and Kambojas (south-west Kashmir and in the Kabul valley).
In the Kurukshetra War, the Kurus and Kambojas are seen as closely allied tribes.[149] The Mahabharata attests that the Kambojas and kindred Scythian tribes like the Sakas, Tusharas and Khasas played a prominent role in the Kurukshetra War where they fought under the command of Sudakshina Kamboja[150] and had sided with the Kurus.
The evidence in the Mahabharata and in Ptolemy’s Geography distinctly supports two Kamboja settlements.[152] The cis-Hindukush region from Nurestan up to Rajauri in southwest Kashmir sharing borders with the Daradas and the Gandharas constituted the Kamboja country.[153] The capital of Kamboja was probably Rajapura (modern Rajori). The Kamboja Mahajanapada of Buddhist traditions refers to this cis-Hindukush branch.[154]
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The trans-Hindukush region constituted the Parama-Kamboja country. It included the Pamirs and Badakhshan, sharing borders with Bactria in the west and Sogdiana in the north.[155] The trans-Hindukush branch of the Kambojas remained culturally Iranian, but a large section of the Kambojas of cis-Hindukush appears to have come under Indian cultural influence.
In the Mahabharata, Kamboja is referred to as a republic or a kingless country where elected chiefs among the people ruled the country. It refers to several Ganah (or republics) of the Kambojas.[156] Kautiliya’s Arthashastra [157] and Ashoka’s Edict No. XIII also attest that the Kambojas followed a republican constitution. Pāṇini’s Sutras[158] tend to convey that the Kamboja of Pāṇini was a “Kshatriya monarchy”, but “the special rule and the exceptional form of derivative” he gives to denote the ruler of the Kambojas implies that the king of Kamboja was a titular head (king consul) only.[159] A kingless country is otherwise called Arashtra or Aratta. This name is sometimes collectively used to denote many other western kingdoms like Madra, Kekeya and Gandhara. Another collective name denoting the western kingdoms is Bahika ( Vahika, Vahlika, Bahlika or Vahika) meaning outsider. This is to denote that their culture was outside or different from the Vedic culture, prevailing in the Kuru, Panchala and other kingdoms of the Gangetic plain.
A clan of tribes called Kinnaras were believed to be the Kamboja horse warriors. Kinnaras were described as “horse-headed humans”. This could be an exaggeration of their extra ordinary skill in cavalry warfare. In Kali Yuga, Kambojas had many colonial states in central India, including the Asmaka or Aswaka of Maharashtra state.
During the reign of Cyrus (558-530 BCE) or in the first year of Darius these nations fell prey to the Achaemenids of Persia. Kamboja and Gandhara formed the twentieth and richest strapy of the Achaemenid Empire. Cyrus I is said to have destroyed the famous Kamboja city called Kapisi.
The Kambojas were famous in ancient times for their excellent breed of horses and as remarkable horsemen located in the Uttarapatha or north-west.[2][160][161][162][163][163][13][164][165] They were constituted into military sanghas and corporations to manage their political and military affairs.[166][167] The Kamboja cavalry offered their military services to other nations as well. There are numerous references to Kamboja having been requisitioned as cavalry troopers in ancient wars by outside nations.[2][168][169] The Kamboj tribe of the Greater Punjab[8][65][242][243][244][245][246] and the Kom and Kata of the Siah-Posh tribe in the Nuristan province of Afghanistan[5][247][248] are believed by scholars to represent some of the modern descendants of the Kambojas. The modern Kamboj are estimated to number around 1.5 million, while other descendants of the Kambojas have merged with other castes of the Indian sub-continent like the Khatris, Rajputs, Jats, Arain and others. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kambojas
It was on account of their supreme position in horse (Ashva) culture that the ancient Kambojas were also popularly known as Ashvakas, i.e. horsemen. Their clans in the Kunar and Swat valleys have been referred to as Assakenoi and Aspasioi in classical writings, and Ashvakayanas and Ashvayanas in Pāṇini’s Ashtadhyayi.
The Buddhist commentator and scholar Buddhaghosa (2nd or 4th c. CE,[54] expressly describes the Kambojas as having Persian affinities
The name Kamboja may derive from (Kam + bhuj), referring to the people of a country known as “Kum” or “Kam”. The mountainous highlands where the Jaxartes and its confluents arise are called the highlands of the Komedes by Ptolemy. Ammianus Marcellinus also names these mountains as Komedas.[100][101][102][103] The Kiu-mi-to in the writings of Hiuen Tsang[104] have also been identified with the Komudha-dvipa of the Puranic literature and the Iranian Kambojas
Sulimirski, Tadeusz (1970). The Sarmatians. Volume 73 of Ancient peoples and places. New York: Praeger. pp. 113–114. “The evidence of both the ancient authors and the archaeological remains point to a massive migration of Sacian (Sakas)/Massagetan (“great” Jat) tribes from the Syr Daria Delta (Central Asia) by the middle of the second century B.C. Some of the Syr Darian tribes; they also invaded North India.”
Some sections of the Kambojas crossed the Hindu Kush and planted Kamboja colonies in Paropamisadae and as far as Rajauri. The Mahabharata[87] locates the Kambojas on the near side of the Hindu Kush as neighbors to the Daradas, and the Parama-Kambojas across the Hindu Kush as neighbors to the Rishikas (or Tukharas) of the Ferghana region.[41][88][89]
The confederation of the Kambojas may have stretched from the valley of Rajauri in the south-western part of Kashmir to the Hindu Kush Range; in the south–west the borders extended probably as far as the regions of Kabul, Ghazni and Kandahar, with the nucleus in the area north-east of the present day Kabul, between the Hindu Kush Range and the Kunar river, including Kapisa[90][91] possibly extending from the Kabul valleys to Kandahar.[92]
Others locate the Kambojas and the Parama-Kambojas in the areas spanning Balkh, Badakshan, the Pamirs and Kafiristan,[93][94] or in various settlements in the wide area lying between Punjab, Iran and Balkh.[95][96] and the Parama-Kamboja even farther north, in the Trans-Pamirian territories comprising the Zeravshan valley, towards the Farghana region, in the Scythia of the classical writers.[3][97][98] The mountainous region between the Oxus and Jaxartes is also suggested as the location of the ancient Kambojas.[99]
The name Kamboja may derive from (Kam + bhuj), referring to the people of a country known as “Kum” or “Kam”. The mountainous highlands where the Jaxartes and its confluents arise are called the highlands of the Komedes by Ptolemy. Ammianus Marcellinus also names these mountains as Komedas.[100][101][102][103] The Kiu-mi-to in the writings of Hiuen Tsang[104] have also been identified with the Komudha-dvipa of the Puranic literature and the Iranian Kambojas.[105][106][107]
The two Kamboja settlements on either side of the Hindu Kush are also substantiated from Ptolemy’s Geography, which refers to the Tambyzoi located north of the Hindu Kush on the river Oxus in Bactria,[108][109] and the Ambautai people on the southern side of Hindukush in the Paropamisadae.[110] Scholars have identified both the Ptolemian Tambyzoi and Ambautai with Sanskrit Kamboja.[41][109][111][112][113][114][115][116][117] Ptolemy also mentions a people called Khomaroi and Komoi in Sogdiana.[118] The Ptolemian Komoi is a classical form of Kamboi (or Kamboika, from Pali Kambojika, Sanskrit Kamboja).[119]
The Kambojas on the far side of the Hindu Kush remained essentially Iranian in culture and religion, while those on the near side came under Indian cultural influence.[8][120][121][122][123][124][125][126][127][128][129] Later some sections of the Kambojas moved even farther, to Arachosia, as attested by an inscription by Ashoka found in Kandahar.
Saka clan
The Saka of Aki province were descended from Môri Chikahira, head of the Môri in the early-middle 14th Century. The clan lost a fair amount of influence when Saka Nagato no kami Hirohide joined in a plot against Môri Motonari in 1523.
Saka
The rich graves at Tillya Tepe in Afghanistan are seen as part of a population affected by the Saka.[19]
The language of the original Saka tribes is unknown. The only record from their early history is the Issyk inscription, a short fragment on a silver cup found in the Issyk kurgan.[citation needed]
The inscription is in a variant of the Kharoṣṭhī script, and is probably in a Saka dialect, constituting one of very few autochthonous epigraphic traces of that language. Harmatta (1999)[full citation needed] identifies the language as Khotanese Saka, tentatively translating “The vessel should hold wine of grapes, added cooked food, so much, to the mortal, then added cooked fresh butter on”.
What is nowadays called the Saka language is the language of the kingdom of Khotan which was ruled by the Saka.
According to legend, the foundation of Khotan occurred when Kushtana, said to be a son of Asoka, the Mauryan emperor,[2] settled there about 224 BCE.[3]
However, it is likely to have existed much earlier than this. As early as 645 BCE, the Yuezhi (known later as the Kushans) were mentioned as suppliers of the famous nephrite jade to China, and the excavations of the Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BCE) tomb of Fu Hao showed that all the jade originated from the oasis area of Khotan
Ashina (Chinese: 阿史那, Modern Chinese: (Pinyin): āshǐnà, (Wade-Giles): a-shih-na, Middle Chinese: (Guangyun) [ʔɑʃi̯ə˥nɑ˩], Asen, Asena, etc.) was a tribe and the ruling dynasty of the ancient Turks who rose to prominence in the mid-6th century when their leader, Bumin Khan, revolted against the Rouran. The two main branches of the family, one descended from Bumin and the other from his brother Istemi, ruled over the eastern and western parts of the Göktürk empire, respectively.
The Ashina clan were considered to be the chosen of the sky god Tengri and the ruler (Kaghan) was the incarnation of the favor the sky god bestowed on the Turks. The Türks, like many of their subjects, were believers in Tengri. They venerated their ancestors, annually conducting special ceremonies at the ancestral cave from which they believed the Ashina had sprung.[1] Although the supreme deity of the Turks was Tengri, the sky god, it was the cult of the wolf that was politically far more important.[2] The Ashinas were a foresighted dynasty and named the state they established as Kök-Türk.[3] The wolf symbolizes honour and is also consideres the mother of most Turkic peoples. Asena (Ashina Tuwu) is the wolf mother of Bumin, the first Khan of the Göktürks.[4]
The Shinto shrine Mitsumine Jinja was of particular importance in wolf worship and has been associated with both Shugenoo, or traditions of mountain asceticism, and wolf iconography. Mitsumine Jinja stands near the village of Ootaki, in Saitama Prefecture.
The main gods worshiped at the shrine are Izanagi and Izanami, two powerful deities who feature in the Japanese creation myth. Tradition holds that the shrine was built by none other than Prince Yamatotakeru, the legendary unifier of Japan, who, during pacification campaigns in central Honshu, wandered astray of the Karisaka mountain-pass road.
The prince found himself lost until a white-wolf god led him out of the mountains, hence the shrine’s connection with wolves.
Later the prince’s father, the legendary twelfth emperor, Keikoo, retraced his son’s route through the mountains during an imperial tour. According to tradition, after climbing the mountains, the views of the three peaks of Kumotori-yama, Shiraiwa-yama, and Myoo-ga-take so stunned Keikoo that he bestowed on them the name Mitsumine-guu, the “shrine of the three peaks.”
Over time the three peaks became objects of worship. Spring thaws caused swift and pure rivers to flow from the mountains and, not surprisingly, local farmers revered the mountains in their agrarian traditions.
Today Mitsumine Jinja sits at about 1,080 meters, on the northwestern slope of Myoo-ga-take, having been moved there from Kumotori-yama after the Meiji Restoration.
The messenger of the Gods from Mitsumine Shrine is the Japanese Wolf, kami no tsukai, ookami, 「神使: 狼 おおかみ」.
The wolf is often symbolically linked with mountain kami in Shinto (the most famous example being the wolf kami of Mitsumine Shrine in the town of Chichibu in Saitama Prefecture).
Interesting is a report by Hirata Atsutane (1776-1843) in one of his lectures on “the Superiority of the Ancients”.
In the Ômine and Mitsumine mountains, he avers, “there are many wolves which are called the messengers of the gods of the mountains, and people from other parts of the country come and, applying through the guards of these mountains, choose and borrow one of these wolves as a defence against fire. That is to say they only arrange to borrow it and do not take a wolf to their place. And from the day of borrowing they offer daily food to the spirit of the wolf.
But if through neglect several days pass without food being offered then the wolf chosen becomes thin, emaciated, and weak. There is a case where a man I know borrowed a wolf and neglected to offer food for four or five days, and misfortune came to him from that source and he was fearfully surprised.”
Wolves, Ookami, By ROWAN HOOPER
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Gaya derives its name from the mythological demon Gayasur (which literally means Gaya the demon), demon (asur, a Sanskrit word) and Gaya. Lord Vishnu killed Gayasur, the holy demon by using the pressure of his foot on him. This incident transformed Gayasur into the series of rocky hills that make up the landscape of the Gaya city. Gaya was so holy that he had the power to absolve the sins of those who touched him or looked at him; after his death many people have flocked to Gaya to perform Shraddha sacrifices on his body to absolve the sins of their ancestors. Gods and goddesses had promised to live on Gayasur’s body after he died, and the hilltop protuberances of Gaya are surmounted by temples to various gods and goddesses.
For Buddhists, Gaya is an important pilgrimage place because it was at Brahmayoni hill that Buddha preached the Fire Sermon (Adittapariyaya Sutta) to a thousand former fire-worshipping ascetics, who all became enlightened while listening to this discourse. At that time, the hill was called Gayasisa.
Gaya (Hindi: गया) is the second largest city of Bihar, India, and it is also the headquarters of Gaya District.
Gaya is 100 kilometers south of Patna, the capital city of Bihar. Situated on the banks of the Phalgu (or Niranjana, as mentioned in Ramayana), it is a place sanctified by the Hindu, the Buddhist and the Jain religions. It is surrounded by small rocky hills (Mangla-Gauri, Shringa-Sthan, Ram-Shila and Brahmayoni) by three sides and the river flowing on the fourth (eastern) side. The city has a mix of natural surroundings, age old buildings and narrow bylanes.
Bodh Gaya video
Bodh Gaya is a religious site and place of pilgrimage associated with the Mahabodhi Temple Complex in Gaya district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is famous for being the place where Gautama Buddha is said to have obtained Enlightenment (Bodhimandala).
The place-name, Bodh Gaya, did not come into use until the 18th century CE. Historically, it was known as Uruvela, Sambodhi, Vajrasana or Mahabodhi.[1] The main monastery of Bodh Gaya used to be called the Bodhimanda-vihāra (Pali). Now it is called the Mahabodhi Temple.
For Buddhists, Bodh Gaya is the most important of the main four pilgrimage sites related to the life of Gautama Buddha, the other three being Kushinagar, Lumbini, and Sarnath. In 2002, Mahabodhi Temple, located in Bodh Gaya, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site
At the end of the Mauryan period (324-185 BC), Buddhism spread in the whole Swat valley, which became a famous center of the religion.[8] The Hindu religion expanded again as Buddhism moved east into China and Japan. By the time of the Muslim conquest (1000 AD), the population was mostly Hindu.[
it is generally accepted that Tantric Buddhism first developed in Swat under King Indrabhuti, there is an old and well-known scholarly dispute as to whether Uddiyana was in the Swat valley, Orissa or some other place. Padmasambhava (flourished eighth century AD), also called Guru Rimpoche, Tibetan Slob-dpon (teacher), or Padma ‘byung-gnas (lotus born), a legendary Indian Buddhist mystic who introduced Tantric Buddhism to Tibet, is credited with establishing the first Buddhist monastery here.
According to tradition, Padmasambhava was native to Udyana (now Swat in Pakistan).[3] Padmasambhava was the son of Indrabhuti, king of Swat in the early eighth century AD. One of the original Siddhas, Indrabhuti flourished in the early eighth century AD and was the king of Uddiyana in the Kabul valley. His son Padmasambhava is revered as the second Buddha in Tibet. Indrabhuti’s sister, Lakshminkaradevi, was also an accomplished siddha of the 9th century AD.[4]
Ancient Gandhara, the valley of Pekhawar, with the adjacent hilly regions of Swat and Buner, Dir and Bajaur was one of the earliest centers of Buddhist religion and culture following the reign of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka, in the third century BC. The name Gandhara first occurs in the Rigveda, which is usually identified with the region[5]
Ancient history
Documented history of Gaya dates back to the enlightenment of Gautam Buddha. About 11 km from Gaya town is Bodh Gaya, the place where Gautam Buddha attained enlightenment. Since then the places around Gaya (Rajgir, Nalanda, Vaishali, Patliputra) had been the citadel of knowledge for the ancient world. These centers of knowledge further flourished under the rule of dynasties like the Mauryans who ruled from Patliputra (modern Patna) and covered the area beyond the boundaries of the Indian subcontinent. During this period, Gaya was a part of the Magadh region.
The kingdom of the Magadha roughly corresponds to the modern districts of Patna, Jehanabad, Nalanda, Aurangabad, Nawadah and Gaya in southern Bihar, and parts of Bengal in the east. It was bounded on the north by the river Ganges, on the east by the river Champa, on the south by the Vindhya mountains and on the west by the river Sone. During the Buddha’s time and onward, its boundaries included Anga.[3] This region of Greater Magadha had a culture and religious beliefs of its own that predated the sanatan dharma. Much of the second urbanisation took place here from c. 500 BCE onwards and it was here that Jainism became strong and Buddhism arose. The importance of Magadha’s culture can be seen in that both Buddhism and Jainism adopted some of its features, most significantly a belief in rebirth and karmic retribution.[4] Early Jaina and Brahmanical scriptures describe varieties of ascetic practices that are based on shared assumptions. These assumptions included the belief that liberation can be achieved through knowledge of the self. These practices and their underlying assumptions were present in the culture of Greater Magadha at an early date and are likely to have influenced Jainism and other religions.[5] The belief in rebirth and karmic retribution was an important feature in later developments in Indian religion and philosophy.
Buddha heritage in the Swat Valley
The Swat museum has footprints of the Buddha, which were originally placed for devotion in the sacred Swat valley. When the Buddha ascended, relics (personal items, body parts, ashes etc.) were distributed to seven kings, who built stupas over them for veneration.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visit to Swat Valley 1961-1962
The Harmarajika stupa at Taxila and Butkarha (Swat) stupa at Jamal Garha were among the earliest Gandhara stupas. These were erected on the orders of King Ashoka and contained the genuine relics of the historic Buddha.[citation needed] The Gandhara school is credited with the first representations of the Buddha in human form, symbolically as the wheel of the law, the tree, etc.
Swat has been inhabited for over two thousand years. The first occupants created well-planned towns. In 327 BC, Alexander the Great fought his way to Udegram and Barikot and stormed their battlements. In Greek accounts, these towns have been identified as Ora and Bazira, respectively. Around the 2nd century BC, the area was occupied by Buddhists, who were attracted by the peace and serenity of the land. There are many remains that testify to their skills as sculptors and architects.
In the beginning of the 8th century AD, the Gabari Swati Pashtun tribe advanced through Laghmanat, Nangarhar, and Dir. By the early 13th century, they captured Swat, defeating the local Buddhists and the Hindus.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visit to Swat Valley 1961-1962
As Buddhist art developed and spread outside Gandhara, Gandharan styles were imitated. In China the Gandhara style was imitated in bronze images, with gradual changes in the features of these images over the passage of time. Swat is celebrated throughout the Buddhist world as the holy land of Buddhist learning and piety. Swat was a popular destination for Buddhist pilgrims. Buddhist tradition holds that Buddha came to Swat during his incarnation as Gautama Buddha and preached to the people here.
At one time, the Swat valley was said to have 1400 stupas and monasteries, which held as many as 6,000 gold images of the Buddhist pantheon. Archaeologists have found more than 400 Buddhist sites, covering an area of 160 km2 in Swat valley alone. Among the important excavations of Buddhist sites is Butkarha-I, containing original relics of the Buddha
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Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia ed. Charles Orzech)
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It was in South East Asia that India’s maritime trade and colonial activities found their full expression. The most notable feature of history of South East Asia in the 8th Century A.D. was the rise of the empire of Sailendras which comprised, Java, Sumatra, Malaya Penunsula and most of the Islands of Indian archipelago. Scholars express the view that Sailendras are a branch of Sailodbhaba dynasty that ruled Orissa in the Seventh Century A.D.
There were also may Hindu kingdoms in Java from 618 A.D to 906 A.D. Most important was called Ho-Ling. It is considered that Ho-Ling is the Chinese fom of ‘Kalinga’. It is inferred that colonists from Kalinga dominated Java or a part of it.
The establishment of Sailendra dynasty in South East Asia no doubt helped people from Orissa in particular and those from other parts of India in general to migrate to these regions in large numbers to build fortunes and the colonies. The result of these migrations was that the people of these regions adopted the religion, social manners, and customs, language and the alphabet of Indians. The caste system was introduced in Java. Brahminical Hinduism and Buddhism flourished side by side in these colonies. Brahminical Gods like Brahma, Vishnu and Siva came to be worshipped here. Siva was the most popular deity. Buddhism also spread widely in these parts. The Mahajan form of Buddhism gained supremacy. Consequently, Mahajanist gods gained ascendency in Java.
The study of Indian religious literature was the main feature of the religious life of the people of these region. Buddhism was the dominant religion in Kamboja, Burma and Sian Brahminical Hinduism also prevailed in other parts. One particular Siva Linga, namely the Bhadreswara linga, served as the tutelary deity of the ruling dynasty of Champa. A temple has been erected called Isanabhadreswar at Mi-son, which is a place of pilgrimage. Some deities like Bhagavati, Gouri, Uma, Mahadevi were widely worshipped in the southern part of Champa known as Kulhareswari. The image of Bhagavati Kulhareswar is worshipped in this place. The temple of Po-nagaro this deity became a national sanctuary of Champas.
Vaishnavism also played a vital role in the religious life of Champa. King Vikrant! Varman constructed many temples associated with Vishnu, Yama, Kubera, Chandra, Surya were also worshipped. Tantric gurus also played an important role as rajagurus especially in Kambuja. Sankara Pandita and Divakara Pandita played a leading role in the regions of Kambuja. Another interesting feature was the establishment of large number of ashramas all over Kambuja. These ashramas were primarily higher seats of learning. The most notable monument in Java is the famous Barabudur temple which is regarded as a wonder by the whole world. The Buddha images in this temple are considered the finest examples of Indo-Javanese art and they resemble their prototype in the Ratnagiri hill in Orissa.
Sanskrit language and literature of India made a deep impact on the culture and civilisation of South East Asia. A large number of Sanskrit inscriptions are found in Burma, Siam, Malaya, Penunsula, Cambadia, Annam, Java, Sumatra and Borneo. The oldest inscription is the Vo-chanh inscription in Champa, belonging to 2nd century A.D. Besides these, another fifty inscriptions have been discovered from the regions of Champa and Kambuja
Epigraphic records contain a special reference to the study of the Vedas, the Smrities, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata along with sacred texts of Buddhist and Jains in these places. The name of Manu is also refered to while Panini and Patanjali find special mention.
The study of Indian literature was widely prevelent in Java. Many old Javanese works are based on themes supplied by the great epics of India. Among these are Arjuna Vivaha, Krishnaya and the Sumana Santaka. The greatest work was the Varata Yudha. Among other works of this class a Smaradahana, the Lubdhaka, the Bhomakavya etc.may be mentioned. The vast Indo Javanese literature bears eloquent testimony to the great influence of Sanskrit literature
http://www.preservearticles.com/2011090212577/short-essay-on-indias-relation-with-south-east-asia-indian-history.html
Haplogroup D is a human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) (direct maternal line) haplogroup.
Distribution
Haplogroup D likely arose between the Caspian Sea and Lake Baikal 60,000 years before the present.[1] It is a descendant of haplogroup M.
It is found in Northeast Asia (including Siberia). Its subclade D1 (along with D2 and D4) is one of five haplogroups found in the indigenous peoples of the Americas, the other being A,B,C and X.[2] Haplogroup D is also found quite frequently in central Asia,[3] where it makes up the second most common mtDNA clade (after H). Haplogroup D also appears at low frequency in northeastern Europe and southwestern Asia.
Studies of Korean mtDNA lineages have shown[4] that there is a high frequency of Haplogroup D4, which is the modal mtDNA haplogroup among Siberians. Haplogroup D4 is also the modal mtDNA haplogroup among Koreans.
Haplogroup D constitutes 5/100 of 1% of the mtDNA testing population at FTDNA. This is partly due to the fact that those of European ancestry tend to test DNA much more than other persons do, at least at FTDNA
Subclades
There are two principal branches:
· D4 (3010,8414,14688): Spread all over East Asia, Southeast Asia, Siberia, Central Asia and indigenous peoples of the Americas.
· D5’6 (16189): Mainly in East Asia and Southeast Asia[5]. Lower in Siberia, Central asia and East India.
Phylogenetic tree
Mannis van Oven and Manfred Kayser have suggested a phylogenetic tree of haplogroup D
in Updated comprehensive phylogenetic tree of global human mitochondrial DNA variation[6]
and subsequent published research. To view it click here. (http://www.phylotree.org/tree/subtree_D.htm)
www.familytreedna.com
http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t234106.html
Three distinct lineages were revealed based upon 13 haplogroups. The first was a Central Asian lineage harbouring haplogroups R1 and R2. The second lineage was of Middle-Eastern origin represented by haplogroups J2*, Shia-specific E1b1b1, and to some extent G* and L*. The third was the indigenous Indian Y-lineage represented by haplogroups H1*, F*, C* and O*. Haplogroup E1b1b1 was observed in Shias only.
Conclusion
The results revealed that a substantial part of today’s North Indian paternal gene pool was contributed by Central Asian lineages who are Indo-European speakers, suggesting that extant Indian caste groups are primarily the descendants of Indo-European migrants. The presence of haplogroup E in Shias, first reported in this study, suggests a genetic distinction between the two Indo Muslim sects
Orissa, Kaliinga kingdom and Kunlun and Klinig of SEA Kambuja
Kumaon The Kumaon region consists of a large Himalayan tract, together with two submontane strips called the Terai and the Bhabhar. The submontane strips were up to 1850 an almost impenetrable forest, given up to wild animals; but after 1850 the numerous clearings attracted a large population from the hills, who cultivated the rich soil during the hot and cold seasons, returning to the hills in the rains. The rest of Kumaon is a maze of mountains, part of the Himalaya range, some of which are among the loftiest known. In a tract not more than 225 km in length and 65 km in breadth there are over thirty peaks rising to elevations exceeding 5500 m. The rivers like Gori, Dhauli , Kali etc rise chiefly in the southern slope of the Tibetan watershed north of the loftiest peaks, amongst which they make their way down valleys’of rapid declivity and extraordinary depth. The principal are the Sharda (Kali), the Pindari and Kailganga, whose waters join the Alaknanda. The river Sharda (Kali) forms the international boundary between India and Nepal. The pilgrim route currently used to visit Kailash-Mansarovar, goes along this river and crosses into Tibet at Lipu Lekh pass. –www.kumaon.com/
History of Kumaon
Mythological significance of Kumaon
The word Kumaon is derived from the word “Kurmanchal” meaning Land of the “Kurm” avatar (the tortoise incarnation of Lord Vishnu, preserver of the Hindu Trinity). According to the Hindu mythology, Adi Kailash (also known as Chotta Kailash) in the Kumaon region is one of the three residences of Lord Kailash (Shiva), Goddess Parvati, Lord Ganesh & Lord Kartikey.
Kumaon a historical place
Evidence of Mesolithic period (middle Stone Age) settlements has been found in Kumaon, as indicated by the paintings at rock shelter at Lake Udyar.
The Kunindas was the first known ruling dynasty of Kumaon region which reigned from 500 B.C. to 600 A.D.
The Katyuri kings ruled the Kumaon region from 7th to the 11th century, with their capital at Baijnath near Almora. The 900-year-old sun temple of Katarmal, on a hilltop facing east (opposite Almora), was built by the Katyuri dynasty.
Kumaon is believed to have been derived from “Kurmanchal”, meaning land of the Kurmavatar (the tortoise incarnation of Lord Vishnu, the preserver according to Hinduism). The region of Kumaon is named after as such.The Kumaon region consists of a large Himalayan tract, together with two submontane strips called the Terai and the habhar. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumaon_division
Pala dynasty
During the last centuries BCE, many clans of the Kambojas entered India in alliance the with Sakas, Pahlavas, Yavanas and spread into Sindhu, Saurashtra, Malwa, Rajasthan, Punjab and Surasena.[1][2] An offshoot of the Meerut Kambojas moved eastwards and entered the Pala domains and in the 10th century, conquering north-west Bengal.[3] Kamboja tribes were employed by the Palas[disambiguation needed] following Devapala’s conquests due to the lack of native cavalry in Bengal[4]
R. R. Diwarkar:
“In course of his military campaign, Pala king Devapala is said to have reached Kamboja. The Kambojas of ancient India are known to have been living in north-west, but in this period, they are known to have been living in the north-east India also, and very probably, it was meant Tibet. Thus Devapala might have come into conflict with Tibet, there is nothing surprising in this because Tibetan sources claim that their kings Khri-Srong-Ide-Btson and his son Mu-Tag-Btsan-Po subdued India and forced Dharamapala to submit. Devapala may have also clashed with them and defeated them”[76]
Alternative View (in line with view of R. R. Diwarkar)
A branch of the Pamirian Kambojas seems to have migrated eastwards towards Tibet hence their notice in the chronicles of Tibet (Kam-po-tsa, Kam-po-ce, Kam-po-ji) and Nepal (Kambojadesa).[77] Burmese chronicles refer to it as Kampuchih. The Pamirian Kambojas may have receded to Tibet in wake of the Kushana (1st century) or Huna (5th century) pressure. Later the same Kamboja branch appears to have moved towards Assam from where they may have invaded Bengal during the bad days of the Palas and wrested north Bengal. Fifth century AD Brahma Purana mentions Kambojas around Pragjyotisha and Tamraliptika.[78] Buddhist text Sasanavamsa[79] also attests the Kambojas in/around Assam. These Kambojas had made first bid to conquer Bengal during the reign of king Devapala (810 AD-850 AD) but were repulsed. A latter attempt was crowned with success when they were able to deprive the Palas of the suzerainty over North and West Bengal and set up a Kamboja dynasty in Bengal towards the middle of 10th century.
A Short History of Bengal
“On the other hand, they may be the Kambojas from north west India from where the Pala used to get their horses, the Tibetans, or the Koca tribe (the related tribe Mleca may be the origin of the term Mleccha). There is also a south Indian reference to a Kamboja king gifting a stone to Rajendra Cola for the Nataraja temple. Other references to Kambojas abound in the ancient literature, and this may have been just the expansion of an Indo-European tribe with both Persian and Indic affinity from their homeland in the Afghanistan-Turkistan (Some relate their name to Cambyses of the Achaemenian empire of early 6th century BC) region along the foothills of the Himalayas towards Bengal, along the coast to Gujarat, to Ceylon, and maybe to Cambodia. Extracted from: “[3]
Dr Debala Mitra:
“A section of the Kambojas, originally living on the north-western frontier of India, most probably in Afghanistan, and belonging to the Parasaka vanna, according to the Buddhaghosa, came and permanently settled in different parts of India. They lent their name to some of the localities occupied by them. A few of the families went to the extent of carving out principalities like the one temporarily eclipsing the fortunes of the Palas of eastern India (Bengal) in the tenth century A.D. …..”.[80]
“A branch of Kambojas seem to have migrated eastwards along the Himalayan foothills, hence their notices in the Tibetan and Nepali chronicles. Later, they entered the Gangetic plains and by ninth century AD came into conflict with the Palas of Bengal. In the 10th c, the Pala rule in Bengal was terminated by Kambojas who had set up one of their chiefs as king. The Kamboja rule in Bengal lasted until they were deposed by resurgent Palas in 980 AD. The descendants of Kambojas are still found in Northern Bengal[68]
Dr P. C. Baghci:
“The Kambojas, a nomadic tribe, lived beyond Himalayas in Central Asia. One of their branches entered India in very early times and after a while lost its identity as distinct people by merging into the local population, but other batches of them must have entered east Tibet and the valley of Mekong from another direction. By this assumption only, we can explain why the name Kambuja was given to the kingdom founded in the middle valley of the Mekong. In eastern Tibet their name can be traced in the name of the province of Khams and it was probably from this region that the Kamboja invasion of Assam took place in later times. A branch of them migrated to North Bengal at an early period though their actual invasion came at a later date”[69]
Dr B. C. Law:
“In 9th c AD, the Kambojas are said to have been defeated by Devapala, the great king of the Pala dynasty of Bengal.[70] But during latter part of 10th c, the tables were turned and the rule of Palas kings was interrupted by the Kambojas, who had set up one of their chiefs as a king. In a certain place called Vanagarh in Dinajpore, mention is made of a certain king of Gauda, born in Kamboja family. It is probable that during the reign of Devapaladeva, the Kambojas first attempted to conquer Gauda, but were, at that time defeated.[71] Dr. R. R. Chanda supposes that in the middle of 10th c AD, the Kambojas of Himalayas again attacked North-Bengal and took away north-east Bengal from them. The present inhabitants of North Bengal viz Koch, Mech and Palia were descended from them.[72] The Kamboja rule in Bengal was terminated by Mahapala I, the 9th king of Pala line, who is known to have been reigning in AD 1026 and may be assumed to have regained his ancestral throne from Kambojas at about 980 AD” .[73]
B. G. Karlsson:
Cf: “The Rajbansis (which means of ‘royal race’) intellectuals have traced their lineage to the purer ancient Kamboj dynasty in the northwestern India. It was the wrath of Parsurama that forced them away from their original homeland and led them to settle in north Bengal (Basu 1994, p 59-61)”.[74]
The Kambojanvaya Gaudapati of Dinajpore Pillar Inscriptions is stated to be a builder of Siva temple and therefore was devotee of Siva. He is said to be a great bestower of the charities. Kambojavamsatilaka Rajayapala, the first king of the Irda Copper plate is referred to as Parama-saugata (devotee of Buddha). The third ruler Narayanapala Kamboja is stated to be a devotee of god Vishnu. King Nayapala Kamboja, the author of Irda Copper plate is known to have practiced Siva cult. There is no information on the Kamboja ruler Dharamapala, but it appears likely that he may have also been a Vedic follower i.e. either Saivite or a Vishnu devotee. The Irda Copper plate has references to Hindu gods, high rising temple buildings as well as to the sacred smokes rising from the Yagya fires into the skies. This again alludes to the Hinduism of the Pala Kambojas. Irda Copper plate also makes special references to the Purohits, Kritivajyas, Dharmagyas and other holy officials. Thus we find that the Kamboja kings of Bengal were mostly Vedic Hindus, of course, with the exception of king Rajyapala. Mention is made of grants of lands and villages to the Purohits in the Burdwan district of east Bengal. According to Prof R. C. Majumdar: “More significant, however, is the inclusion of Purohits in the land grants of the Kamboja, Varman and Sena kings of Bengal. It indicates the great importance was attached to religious and social aspects of administration during rules of these dynasties which were all followers of orthodox Hinduism.” (History of Bengal, Vol I., p 281, Dr R. C. Majumdar</ref> Dr B. N. Sen says that the Buddhism which had followers in the early Pala and Candra rulers was probably on the decline in Bengal during 10th century. On the other hand, the Vedic religion was on the rise. Since the Kamboja Pala kings of Bengal were mostly Vedic Hindus, hence they must have got full support from their subject which must have helped them raise a powerful empire in Bengal.[64]
Kambojas in caste system of Bengal
In the ancient caste classification in Bengal, there are references to people who came as invaders from northwest or accompanied the invaders. These people have been described as Mlechchas in the brahmanical Caste System in Bengal. Ancient Sanskrit and Pali texts and inscriptions profusely attest the Kambojas as a Mlechcha tribe of Uttarapatha or Udichya division belonging to Indo-Iranian or Scytho-Aryan and not to the Mongolian stock. The north-westerners including the Kambojas, Sakas, Hunas, Yavanas, Abhiras, Khasas, Sabaras, Turushakas, Suhmas etc. have all been labelled as outsiders, foreigners or Mlechchas within the Bengali society and therefore were left outside the Caste Classification of ancient Bengal. [1] Compare also: Part-II: VI. Ancient peoples of Bengal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamboja_Pala_dynasty
Migratory routes of paternal lineages of Indian upper caste and Muslim populations.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2755252/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2755252/figure/F1/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2755252/figure/F3/
Split at the roots into two branches – Turkmen and another leading to Shia, etc northern India
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2755252/figure/F2/
the kings from northern countries lying between Mount Meru (Pamirs) and Mandara & located around river Sailoda with plenty of Kichaka bamboos, had brought as tribute, heaps of gold raised from underneath the earth by ants. The nations so named include the Khasas, Paradas, Kulindas and Tanganas among others. This indicates that the Khasas of the early period lived to the north of Kashmir, west of Tibet, probably in Xinjiang province of China.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2755252/figure/F3/
The epic literature asserts that the Khasas, Chinas, Hunas, Shakas, Kambojas, Yavanas, Pahlavas, Kiratas, Sinhalas, Mlechchas etc. were all created by sage Vashistha through the divine powers of cow Sabala or Nandini (Kamadhenu).[4]
The Khasas are said to have participated in the Kurukshetra War. They are grouped with the Kambojas, Shakas and Shalvas of north-west in Uluka’s list of the warrior clans of Kuru side.[5] The Khasas and other tribes from Central Asia including the Kambojas, Sakas, Yavanas, Daradas, Tusharas had fought the Kurukshetra war under the supreme command of Sudakshin Kamboj.[6]
At several places, the Mahabharata brackets the Khasas with the Kambojas and Shakas [7] and further also attests them as tribes of Udichya or north-west
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2755252/
you are a club I am a trident http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924089930774#page/n319/mode/2up
p. 282 King of the Demons story of the Khatyarh http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924089930774#page/n315/mode/2up
p. 122 the ages of man
p. 155 http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924089930774#page/n187/mode/2up grand tale of injustice!
Chinas in Puranas ,Ramyana and Budhist texts.
RamayanaKiskindhakanda of Valmiki’s Ramayana makes reference to Cinas as well as Parama-Cinas and associates them with the trans-Himalayan tribes of the Daradas, Kambojas, the Yavanas, the Sakas, the Kiratas, the Bahlikas, the Rishikas, and the Tañkanas of the Uttarapatha.[5].
The epic literature asserts that the Cinas, Khasas, Hunas, Shakas, Kambojas, Yavanas, Pahlavas, Kiratas, Sinhalas, Mlechchas etc. were created by sage Vashistha through the divine powers of cow Sabala or Nandini (Kamdhenu) [6].
[edit] Puranas
In the Kalika Purana, the Cinas are again grouped with the Kambojas, Shakas, Khasas and the Barabaras etc. and are said to have sided with Buddhist king Kali in the war against Vedic king Kalika [7].
Bhuvanakosha section of numerous Puranas locates the Cinas along with the Tusharas, Pahlavas, Kambojas, and Barbaras in the Udichya or northern division of ancient India.[8].
According to Vayu Purana and the Matsya Purana, the Cinas and several other tribes would be annihilated by king Kalika or Pramiti at the end of Kali age [9].
In the Matsya Purana, the Chinas are said to be unfit for performing shraddhah.[10].
There is yet another reference to China as Cina-maru as referred to in the Vayu Purana and Brahmanda Purana. However, at the same place, Matsya Purana mentions Vira-maru. China-maru or Vira-maru has been identified with the lands of Turkestan situated above And-khui in the north of Afghanistan (Dr K. P. Jayswal, Dr M. R. Singh).
[edit] Buddhist literature
http://www.jatland.com/forums/showthread.php?31104-Research-on-history-of-Jat-clans/page16 The Cinas also find reference in the Buddhist play, Mudrarakshasa, where they are listed with other contemporary tribes, such as the Shakas, Yavanas, Kiratas, Cambojas, Bhalikas, Parasikas, Khasas, Gandharas, Kalutas, etc.
Buddhist text Milindapanho (see: Sacred Books of the East, xxxvi, 204), associates the Chinas with the Sakas, Yavanas, Kambojas and Vilatas(?) etc., and locates them in the western Tibet/Ladakh, according to Dr Michael Witzel [11].
[edit] Other literature
Chanakya (c. 350-283 BC), the prime minister of the Maurya Empire and a professor at Takshashila University, refers to Chinese silk as “cinamsuka” (Chinese silk dress) and “cinapatta” (Chinese silk bundle) in his Arthashastra.[12]
The Sanmoha Tantra speaks of the Tantric culture of the foreign countries like the Bahlika (Bactria), Kirata, Bhota (Tibet), Cina, Maha-Cina, Parasika, Airaka, Kambojas, Huna, Yavana, Gandhara and Nepala.
Around the 2nd century BC, the Laws of Manu describes the downfall of the Chinas, as well as many foreign groups in India:
“43. But in consequence of the omission of the sacred rites, and of their not consulting Brahmanas, the following tribes of Kshatriyas have gradually sunk in this world to the condition of Shudras;
44. (Viz.) the Paundrakas, the Chodas, the Dravidas, the Kambojas, the Yavanas, the Shakas, the Paradas, the Pahlavas, the Chinas, the Kiratas, the Daradas and the Khashas.” [13]
Besides China and Parama-China, there is also a reference to Mahachina in the Manasollasa which text mentions the fabrics from Mahachina.[1] It is thus possible that China probably referred to western Tibet or Ladakh, Mahachina to Tibet proper, and Parama-China to Mainland China.
H.A. Rose on Chhina
H.A. Rose [p.168] writes that Chhina (छीना) Jat clan is found in Shahpur and Amritsar. The Chhina are undoubtedly distinct from the Chima Jats of Sialkot and Gujranwala, though the two tribes are frequently confused. That there are Chhina in Sialkot appears from the fact that the town of Jamki in that District was founded by a Chhina Jat who came, from Sindh and retained the title of Jam, the Sindhi equivalent for Chaudhri. Yet if the Chhina spread up the Chenab into Sialkot and the neighbouring Districts in large numbers, it is curious that they should not be found in the intermediate Districts through which they must have passed. The Chhina are also found in Mianwali and in Bahawalpur state. In the latter they are mainly confined to the Minchinabad kārdāri, opposite Pakpattan, and there have three septs, Tareka Mahramka and Azamka, which own land. Other septs are tenants. Their genealogy gives them a common origin with the Wattus : —
Uchchir → Jay-Pal → Chhina
Uchchir → Raj-Pal → Wattu (Wa tzu? Wa race)!!
Pheru, 18th in descent from Chhina was converted to Islam by Bawa Farid-ud-Din of Pakpattan. The Chhinas are courageous and hard-working.
Chinas in Puranas ,Ramyana and Budhist texts.
RamayanaKiskindhakanda of Valmiki’s Ramayana makes reference to Cinas as well as Parama-Cinas and associates them with the trans-Himalayan tribes of the Daradas, Kambojas, the Yavanas, the Sakas, the Kiratas, the Bahlikas, the Rishikas, and the Tañkanas of the Uttarapatha.[5].
The epic literature asserts that the Cinas, Khasas, Hunas, Shakas, Kambojas, Yavanas, Pahlavas, Kiratas, Sinhalas, Mlechchas etc. were created by sage Vashistha through the divine powers of cow Sabala or Nandini (Kamdhenu) [6].
[edit] Puranas
In the Kalika Purana, the Cinas are again grouped with the Kambojas, Shakas, Khasas and the Barabaras etc. and are said to have sided with Buddhist king Kali in the war against Vedic king Kalika [7].
Bhuvanakosha section of numerous Puranas locates the Cinas along with the Tusharas, Pahlavas, Kambojas, and Barbaras in the Udichya or northern division of ancient India.[8].
According to Vayu Purana and the Matsya Purana, the Cinas and several other tribes would be annihilated by king Kalika or Pramiti at the end of Kali age [9].
In the Matsya Purana, the Chinas are said to be unfit for performing shraddhah.[10].
There is yet another reference to China as Cina-maru as referred to in the Vayu Purana and Brahmanda Purana. However, at the same place, Matsya Purana mentions Vira-maru. China-maru or Vira-maru has been identified with the lands of Turkestan situated above And-khui in the north of Afghanistan (Dr K. P. Jayswal, Dr M. R. Singh).
[edit] Buddhist literature
The Cinas also find reference in the Buddhist play, Mudrarakshasa, where they are listed with other contemporary tribes, such as the Shakas, Yavanas, Kiratas, Cambojas, Bhalikas, Parasikas, Khasas, Gandharas, Kalutas, etc.
Buddhist text Milindapanho (see: Sacred Books of the East, xxxvi, 204), associates the Chinas with the Sakas, Yavanas, Kambojas and Vilatas(?) etc., and locates them in the western Tibet/Ladakh, according to Dr Michael Witzel [11].
[edit] Other literature
Chanakya (c. 350-283 BC), the prime minister of the Maurya Empire and a professor at Takshashila University, refers to Chinese silk as “cinamsuka” (Chinese silk dress) and “cinapatta” (Chinese silk bundle) in his Arthashastra.[12]
The Sanmoha Tantra speaks of the Tantric culture of the foreign countries like the Bahlika (Bactria), Kirata, Bhota (Tibet), Cina, Maha-Cina, Parasika, Airaka, Kambojas, Huna, Yavana, Gandhara and Nepala.
Around the 2nd century BC, the Laws of Manu describes the downfall of the Chinas, as well as many foreign groups in India:
“43. But in consequence of the omission of the sacred rites, and of their not consulting Brahmanas, the following tribes of Kshatriyas have gradually sunk in this world to the condition of Shudras;
44. (Viz.) the Paundrakas, the Chodas, the Dravidas, the Kambojas, the Yavanas, the Shakas, the Paradas, the Pahlavas, the Chinas, the Kiratas, the Daradas and the Khashas.” [13]
Besides China and Parama-China, there is also a reference to Mahachina in the Manasollasa which text mentions the fabrics from Mahachina.[1] It is thus possible that China probably referred to western Tibet or Ladakh, Mahachina to Tibet proper, and Parama-China to Mainland China.
http://www.jatland.com/forums/showthread.php?31104-Research-on-history-of-Jat-clans/page16 see also references to Mahabharata
References
^ a b Geographical Data in Early Puranas, 1972, p172, Dr M. R. Singh
^ Wade, Geoff, “The Polity of Yelang and the Origin of the Name ‘China'”, Sino-Platonic Papers, No. 188, May 2009.http://www.sino-platonic.org/complete/spp188_yelang_china.pdf
^ MBH 6/9/65-66
^ MBH 12/65/13-15
^ The Ramayana of Valmiki: An Epic of Ancient India, Volume 4, Kiskindhakanda, p 151, Rosalind Lefeber
^ Ramayana (1.52-55) & Mahabharata (1.174.6-48)
^ Kalika Purana 20/40
^ “:ete desha Udichyastu
Kambojashchaiva Dardashchaiva Barbarashcha Angaukikah || 47 ||
Chinashchaiva Tusharashcha Pahlavadhayata narah || 48 ||
— (Brahma Purana 27.44-53)”
^ Vayu I, 58.78-83; Matsya 114.51.58
^ Matsya Purana, 16.16
^ Early East Iran, And The Atharvaveda, 1980, (Persica-9), p 106, Dr Michael Witzel.
^ Tan Chung (1998). A Sino-Indian Perspective for India-China Understanding.
^ Manusmritti (Laws of Manu), X.43-44 http://www.jatland.com/forums/showthread.php?31104-Research-on-history-of-Jat-clans/page16
“A Hindu-Buddhist pantheon and the Japanese sky: Aspects of cosmology and ritual in pre-modern Japan”. The University of Edinburgh, 13 Feb 2012 Ian Astley http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/literatures-languages-cultures/asian-studies/staff/ian-astley/talks
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Turkic peoples http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkic_peoples#cite_note-Golden-20
Golden, Peter (1992). An Introduction of the Turkic Peoples: Ethnogenesis and State Formation in Medieval and Early Modern Asia and the Middle East. O. Harrassowitz. ISBN 3-447-03274-X.
Golden, Peter B. “Some Thoughts on the Origins of the Turks and the Shaping of the Turkic Peoples”. (2006) In: Contact and Exchange in the Ancient World. Ed. Victor H. Mair. University of Hawai’i Press.[2].
quote:”The ethnonym “Turk” has similar connections. The Chinese form, “T’u-chùeh” < ‘T’uat-kiwat reflects “Turkut”, the plural form, as we have noted. This plural in –t could be Altaic. It is common in Mongol, rare in Old Turkic, and usually found in titles taken from the Jou-jan (e.g., tegin, tegit) —who, it is believed, but not universally, were speakers of some Proto-Mongolian Ianguage (they contained Hsiun-pi [Proto-Mongolian] and Hsiung-nu elements; Janhunen [1996,190], however, recently asserted a possible Turkic affiliation). It might also be Soghdian or some other Iranian tongue. In the earliest inscription from the Tùrk empire, the Bugut Inscription, which is written in Soghdian, not Turkic, we find trwkt ‘ ‘sy-ns’: Turkit / Turukit Ashinas (Mori-yasu and Ochir 1999,123). The Sui-shu tells us that the name “Tûrk” in their own tongue means “helmet” and that it comes from the fact that the Altay région, where we find the Tùrks at the time in which they form their empire, looks like a helmet. “The people call it a ‘helmet,’ t’u-chiïeh; therefore, they cail themselves by this name” (Liu 1958,1: 40). This is a folk etymology, and there is no attested Turkic form of “Tùrk” meaning “helmet.” As Rôna-Tas has pointed out, however, there is a Khotancse-Saka word, tturaka, meaning “lid” (1999,278–281). It is not a serious semantic stretch to “helmet.” Subsequently, “Tùrk” would find a suitable Turkic etymology, being conflated with the word tùrk, which means one in the prime of youth, powerful, mighty” (Rona-Tas 1991,10-13). It seems hard to avoid the conclusion that the Tùrks, per se, had strong connections with — if not ultimate origins in — Irano-Tocharian east Turkistan. They, or at least the Ashina, were migrants to southern Siberia-northern Mongolia, where we seem to find the major concentration of Turkic-speaking peoples. There are a considarable number of Tocharian and Iranian loan words in Old Turkic — although a good number of these may have been acquired, especially in the case of Soghdian terms, during the Tùrk impérial period, when the Soghdians were a subject people, an important mercantile-commercial element in the Tùrk state, and culture-bearers across Eurasia. It also should be noted here that the early Tùrk rulers bore names of non-Turkic origin. The founders of the state are Bumïn (d. 552) and his brother Ishtemi (552-575), the Yabghu Qaghan, who governed the western part of the realm. Among their successors are ‘Muqan/Mughan/Mahân/Muhân (553–572), Tas(t)par (572 -581), and Nivar/Nâbàr/Nawâr (581-587). None of these names is Turkic (Golden 1992,121–122; Rybatzki 2000.206-221).”
András Róna-Tas, Hungarians and Europe in the early Middle Ages: an introduction to early Hungarian history, Central European University Press, 1999,
PP 281:”We can now reconstruct the history of the ethnic name Turk as follows. The word is of East Iranian, most probably Saka, origin, and is the name of a ruling tribe whose leading clan Ashina conquered the Turks, reorganized them, but itself became rapidly Turkified”
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The most common hg J 39.39%Azeris;
http://www.researchgate.net/publication/232742809_Iranian_Azeri’s_Y-Chromosomal_Diversity_in_the_Context_of_Turkish-Speaking_Populations_of_the_Middle_East
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:JvBtcixs9zgJ:journals.tums.ac.ir/pdf/17783+&hl=en&gl=jp&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgDWldlVT9KVFGwdXOW3ZTj-PdL7yLGU28YhocqgFYePE_-MQReMVwj6mbmylL2mXQsZujSkP-hij4GTIxjyCEyXBKu0jsWOvd_jueCFRPOaGr-8UDtyxDmtzBSAssn5Fs_-yLJ&sig=AHIEtbQfqyFMI5S0thf56Akw__3OcEzZHA
Between the 3rd and 2nd millenia the Iranian plateau became exposed to incursions from pastoral nomads from the Central Asian steppes. Presumably through an elite-dominance process existing Dravidian language across the region became substituted by Indo-Iranian language which is a branch of Indo-European language. Also their genetic impacts were as significant as the imposition of their language, which is clearly observed in Iran, Pakistan and northern India.
The dominance of the Arabs came to a sudden end in the mid-eleventh century with the arrival of the Seljuk Turks, a clan of the Oguz Turks. The expanding waves of these Altaic speaking nomads from Central Asia involved regions further to the West, such as Iran, Iraq, Anatolia, Caucasus where they imposed Altaic (Turkish) languages. In these Western regions, however, the genetic contribution is low or undetectable, even though the power of these invaders was sometimes strong enough to impose a language replacement, such as in Turkey and Azerbaijan.
Iran’s Ethnic Azeris And The Language Question By Abbas Djavadi July 19, 2010 http://www.rferl.org/content/Irans_Ethnic_Azeris_And_The_Language_Question/2103609.html
Iranian Azeris have compelling reasons for feeling fully Iranian. For one thing, Iranian-Azeri dynasties ruled the country for centuries and did much to uphold the nation’s existence and unity. Having been in Iran for thousands of years, Iran’s Azeris have never felt like a minority or newly arrived people.
Mir Hossein Musavi is an ethnic Azeri.
In the 16th century, the ethnic-Azeri Safavid dynasty restored Iran’s unity after the destruction and chaos of the Mongol invasion. They introduced Shi’ite Islam as the country’s state religion, a key part of the country’s emerging national identity.
In the first part of the 20th century, ethnic Azeris led the Constitutional Revolution against the despotism of the (ethnic Azeri) Qajar regime and the imperialism of Russia and Great Britain.
Religion also plays a key factor in uniting ethnic Azeris with other Iranians. Sharing the Shi’ite confession of Islam with their Persian compatriots means that Iranian Azeris have felt closer to them than to Sunni Turks or other peoples beyond Iran’s borders.
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Iranian Azeri’s Y-Chromosomal Diversity in the Context of Turkish-Speaking Populations of the Middle East.
L Andonian, S Rezaie, A Margaryan, Dd Farhud, K Mohammad, K Holakouie Naieni, Mr Khorramizadeh, M H Sanati, M Jamali, P Bayatian, L Yepiskoposyan
Dept. of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran Iran.
Iranian Journal of Public Health (impact factor: 0.38). 01/2011; 40(1):119-23
ABSTRACT
The main goal of this study was to conduct a comparative population genetic study of Turkish speaking Iranian Azeries as being the biggest ethno-linguistic community, based on the polymorph markers on Y chromosome.
One hundred Turkish-speaking Azeri males from north-west Iran (Tabriz, 2008-2009) were selected based on living 3 generations paternally in the same region and not having any relationship with each other. Samples were collected by mouth swabs, DNA extracted and multiplex PCR done, then 12 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) and 6 Microsatellites (MS) were sequenced. Obtained data were statistically analyzed by Arlequin software.
SNPs and Microsatellites typing were compared with neighboring Turkish-speaking populations (from Turkey and Azerbaijan) and Turkmens representing a possible source group who imposed the Turkish language during 11-15(th) centuries AD. Azeris demonstrated high level of gene diversity compatible with patterns registered in the neighboring Turkish-speaking populations, whereas the Turkmens displayed significantly lower level of genetic variation. This rate of genetic affiliation depends primarily on the geographic proximity.
The imposition of Turkish language to this region was realized predominantly by the process of elite dominance, i.e. by the limited number of invaders who left only weak patrilineal genetic trace in modern populations of the region
N3 Tat and YAP
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The Kambojas were an Indo-Iranian tribe.[1] However, the ancient Kambojas are sometimes described as Indo-Aryans[2][3][4][5] or as having both Indian and Iranian affinities.[6][6][7][7][8][8][9][10][11] However, most scholars now agree that the Kambojas were Iranians,[12][13][14][15] cognate with the Indo-Scythians. The Kambojas are also described as a royal clan of the Sakas
Dwivedi 1977: 287 “The Kambojas were probably the descendants of the Indo-Iranians popularly known later on as the Sassanians and Parthians who occupied parts of north-western India in the first and second centuries of the Christian era.”
Dwivedi, R. K., (1977) “A Critical study of Changing Social Order at Yuganta: or the end of the Kali Age” in Lallanji Gopal, J.P. Singh, N. Ahmad and D. Malik (eds.) (1977) D.D. Kosambi commemoration volume. Varanasi: Banaras Hindu University.
there are several similarities between the Kamboja Pala ruling family and the so-called Pala ruling family of Bengal: e.g.
The names Rajyapala, Narayanapala and Nayapala born by the Kamboja-Pala kings (mentioned in Irda Copper plates) are also born by Pala emperors of the (so-called) Pala dynasty of Bengal [22],
The Kamboja-Pala king Rajyapala of Irda Copper plate and king Rajyapala (II) of the so-called Pala dynasty belong exactly to the same era and time frame,
Kamboja-Pala king Rajyapala of the Irda Copper plate and king Rajyapala (II) of the so-called Pala dynasty assumed exactly similar imperial titles i.e. Parmeshevara, Paramabhattacharya and Maharajadhiraja ,
Kamboja-Pala king Rajyapala of the Irda Copper plate and Rajyapala (II) of the so-called Pala dynasty have assumed exactly similar religious epithets i.e. Paramasaugata (devotee of the Buddha),
The queen of Kamboja-Pala king Rajyapala of Irda Copper plate is named Bhagyadevi, which very interestingly is also the name born by the queen of the so-called Pala king Rajyapala (II),
The Kamboja-Pala kings of Irda Copper plate as well as the Pala kings of the so-called Pala dynasty use ‘Pala’ as the last part of their names,
The Kamboja-Pala kings of Irda Copper plate as well as the Pala kings of the so-called Pala dynasty are known to have similar religious beliefs,
The script and language of Irda Copper plate and that of the Dinajpur Pillar inscriptions belonging to the Kamboja-Pala dynasty is very identical to that of the numerous charters and grants of the kings of the so-called Pala dynasty of Bengal.
Based on these startling similarities, some scholars have gone to the extent of stating that the Pala dynasty and the Kamboja-Pala Dynasty of Irda Copper plate & Dinajpore Pillar Inscription is one and the same dynasty. But if this is really so, then the inescapable conclusion which must follow is that the unified Kamboja/Pala dynasty of Bengal must belong to the Kamboja lineage.[23][24]
It is very curious to note that whereas the identity of the Kamboja Pala rulers of Bengal has been referred to twice and is indisputably connected to the Kamboja ethnicity, that of the Palas has nowhere been specifically stated in any of the Pala traditions in numerous of their Grants, Charters and Inscriptions (Dr D. C. Sircar). According to Manjuśree Mūlakalpa, Gopala I was a Śudra.[25][26] Balla-Carita says that “The Palas were low-born Ksatriyas”. Tibetan Historian Taranatha Lama, in his “History of Buddhism in India” and Ghanarama, in his “Dharma Mangala”, (both of 16th century), also give the same story.[27][28] Arabic accounts tell us that Palas were not kings of noble origin.[29] According to Abu Fazal (Ain-i-Akbari), Palas were Kayasthas.[30] Khalimpur Plate of Dharmapala, son of Gopala I (the founder of the dynasty), states that Gopala was a son of a warrior (Khanditarat) Vapyata and grandson of a highly educated (Saryavidyavadat) Dayitavishnu.[31] Ramachrita of Sandhyakaranandi attests Pala king Ramapala as a Kshatriya,[32] but in another portion of the same text, Dharmapala is described as Smudrakula-dipa,[33] though, the reason why the origin of the Palas has been ascribed to the Sea (Samudrakula) remains obscure.[34] In the Udaya-sundari-katha, a Champu-Kavya, written by Soddhala in the eleventh century, Pala king Dharmapala is said to have belonged to the family of Mandhata of the Ikshvaku line which is known to belong to solar race.[35][36] It is also stated that they were born of a Ksatriya mother.[37] “All these hear-says practically have no value at all for discussion”.[38]
The Kamauli Copper Plate inscription of king Vaidyadeva of Kamarupa (Assam) [39] indisputably connects the Palas to the Kshatriyas of “Mihirasya vamsa” (Surya lineage).[40]
Since Mihira means Sun or Sun worshipper, the expression Mihirasya implies connected with or relating to the Sun or Sun Worship (Sanskrit Mitra, Persian Mithira == > Mihira = Sun). According to Bhavishya Purana, the Mihira lineage originated from the union of Nishkubha, daughter of Rsi Rijihva and the Sun (Mihira).[41] From this wedlock was born a sage called Zarashata, who apparently is Zoroaster of the Iranian traditions. Mihirasya Vamsa means Mihira Vamsa which is also found written as Mihirkula i.e. lineage of the Sun-worshippers. The reference to Mihirasya vamsa as being the lineage of the Palas of Bengal as attested independently by the Kamauli Grant of king Vaidyadeva of Assam holds a probable clue that the Palas may have come from the Sun-Worshipping lineage i.e. Iranian or Zoroastrian line of the Kambojas.[42][43]
The fact that Gopala I, the founder of the so-called Pala dynasty was a Buddhist and that he has also been branded as a Śudra king [44] may also carry a clue to his connections to the Kamboja lineage since the Kambojas were also predominantly Buddhists in post-Christian times and have also been branded as Vrishalas (degraded Kshatriyas or Śudras) in several Hindu texts like Manu Smriti, Mahabharata, Harivamsha and numerous Puranas.[45] Also the fact that Gopala I’s grandfather was a learned man, his father a warrior, and king Gopala himself was elected to the throne of Bengal, he therefore, was definitely not initially of a distinguished royal blood from the Hindu point of view. Some surmise that he may have been from a Brahmin lineage[46] but since the Palas are called Śudras as well as Ksatriyas, these references qualify them more as the Indo-Iranian Kambojas than of any other lineage. The ancient Indian traditions also incidentally attest the scholarship and learning of the Kambojas who excelled in education and produced many outstanding teachers and sages in ancient and medieval times. Scholars further note that Vapyata, the grand father of Gopala I, had come into east from the north-west Punjab,[47] which if true, definitely means Gandhara/Kamboja region
On the other hand, they may be the Kambojas from north west India from where the Pala used to get their horses, the Tibetans, or the Koca tribe (the related tribe Mleca may be the origin of the term Mleccha). There is also a south Indian reference to a Kamboja king gifting a stone to Rajendra Cola for the Nataraja temple. Other references to Kambojas abound in the ancient literature, and this may have been just the expansion of an Indo-European tribe with both Persian and Indic affinity from their homeland in the Afghanistan-Turkistan (Some relate their name to Cambyses of the Achaemenian empire of early 6th century BC) region along the foothills of the Himalayas towards Bengal, along the coast to Gujarat, to Ceylon, and maybe to Cambodia. Extracted from: “[3]
Dr Debala Mitra:
“A section of the Kambojas, originally living on the north-western frontier of India, most probably in Afghanistan, and belonging to the Parasaka vanna, according to the Buddhaghosa, came and permanently settled in different parts of India. They lent their name to some of the localities occupied by them. A few of the families went to the extent of carving out principalities like the one temporarily eclipsing the fortunes of the Palas of eastern India (Bengal) in the tenth century A.D. …..”.[80]
Dr A. D. Pusalkar:
“It is held by some scholars that the Kambojas were a hill tribe from tribe from Tibet or other regions who had conquered Bengal. But it is more likely that some high official of the Palas belonging to the Kamboja family or tribe took advantage of the weakness of the Pala kings and set up an independent kingdom”.[81]
Dr R. C. Majumdar:
“The Palas employed mercenaries forces, and certainly recruited horses from Kamboja tribe.[82] N. G. Majumdar has very rightly observed that if horses could be brought into Bengal from north-western frontiers of India during Pala period, it is not unreasonable to suppose that for trade and other purposes, some adventurers could also have found their way into that province”.[83] Mercenary soldiers (speciality cavalry) might have been recruited from Kambojas and some of them might have been influential chiefs. It has been suggested that the Kambojas might have come to Bengal with the Pratiharas when the latter conquered part of this province Indian.[84][85][86][87]
Airavat Singh
“Devpala in the 9th Century repeated his father’s feat by leading an army into the Punjab region and further north into the lands of Kamboja (near the Indus). But no territory was gained in this campaign—even the neighboring kingdoms of Kamarupa (Assam) and Utkala (Orissa) were only compelled to render tribute. The two successors of Devapala were more religious-minded and in that period the Pratihars annexed both Magadha and Varendri (Bengal) while Kamarupa and Utkala also resumed independence. To make matters worse feudatories of the Palas also carved out their own states like the Chandras of East Bengal and the Kambojas of Radha—the latter are believed to be descendants of the Kamboja officers and men that had joined the army of Devapala during his campaign in their country near the Indus….”.[88] [4]
Dr. H. C. Ray:
Dr. H. C. Ray writes that Kamboja rulers of Bengal came from Punjab with Gurjara Pratiharas. The Kambojas had joined the forces of Gurjara Pratiharas and there were separate regiments of the Kambojas in the Pratihara army which were entrusted with the defense of north-eastern borders of the Pratihara empire. The Kambojas did not leave the province after the collapse of Pratihara power. They rather took advantage of the weakness of the Pala kings and set up an independent kingdom which was not a difficult task for them[89] Dr H. C. Ray also writes: “I must also admit however, that the Kambojas of Bengal may also have come from north-west as mercenaries and then formed into an independent army under a Kamboja chief by successful rebellion”[90]
Dr H. Chander Raychaudhury:
Dr Hem Chander Raychaudhury also states that the Kambojas came to Bengal with the armies of the Gurjara Pratiharas[91]
Nagendra Nath Vasu”
According to Nagendra Nath Vasu, the Kambojas came to Bengal from Kambey in Gujarat[92]
Dr Jogindra Ghosh:
Dr Jogindra Ghosh also says that the Kamboja rulers of Bengal had come from the Kambey in Gujarat, but curiously he connects the Kamboja rulers of Bengal with the Pratiharas of Gujarat.[93]
Dr J. L. Kamboj:
According to Dr J. L. Kamboj, during second/first centuries BCE, many clans of the Kambojas entered India in alliance the with Sakas, Pahlavas, Yavanas and spread into Sindhu, Saurashtra, Malwa, Rajasthan, Punjab and Surasena.[1] The Kamboh Darwaza in the city of Meerut is named after the Kambojas. An offshoot of these Kambojas moved eastwards and entered Bengal, Bihar and Orissa and in 10th century, they founded a large empire in north-west Bengal.[94]
Dr B. R. Chattetjee:
Interestingly, Dr B. R. Chattetjee supposes that the Kambojas who founded the Kamboja empire in Bengal may have come from the Kambuja of Indo China
The Kambojas (Sanskrit: कम्बोज, Kamboja; Persian: کمبوہ, Kambūh) were a kshatriya tribe of Iron Age India, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature. Modern scholars conclude that the Kambojas were an Avestan speaking Eastern Iranian tribe at the boundary of the Indo-Aryans and the Iranians, and appear to have moved from the Iranian into the Indo-Aryan sphere over time.
The Kambojas migrated into India during the Indo-Scythian invasion from the 2nd century BCE to 5th century CE. Their descendants controlled various principalities in Medieval India.
Das Volk Der Kamboja bei Yaska, First Series of Avesta, Pahlavi and Ancient Persian Studies in honour of the late Shams-ul-ulama Dastur Peshotanji Behramji Sanjana, Strassberg & Leipzig, 1904, pp 213 ff, Ernst Kuhn; The Language of the Kambojas, Journal of Royal Asiatic Society 1911, pp 801-02; Journal of Royal Asiatic Society, 1912, p 256; Purana, Vol V, No 2, July 1963, p 256, D. C. Sircar; Journal Asiatique, CCXLVI 1958, I, pp 47-48, E. Benveniste; Early Eastern Iran and the Atharvaveda, Persica-9, 1980, fn 81, p 114, Michael Witzel; The Afghans (Peoples of Asia), 2001, p 127, also Index, W. J. Vogelsang and Willem Vogelsang; Also Fraser 1979; History of India, Vol. I, R. Thapar 1961/1997: p 276
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kambuja#cite_ref-1
“Kambujiy-a (Cambyses), Kambujiy-ahya (Cambysis), Kambujiy-am (Cambysem), Kabujiy-a (Cambyse). This is the true vernacular orthography of name which was written Cambyses by the Greeks and Kavaus in Zend and which in Arabic and modern Persian has given birth to the forms of Kabus and Kavus or Kaus. From the name of a king of this name was derived the geographical title of Kamboja which retained to this day in the Kambyses was derived the geographical title of Kamboja (Sanskrit), which is retained to present days in the Kamoj of Cafferstan, became also by a regular orthographical procession Kabus, Kabur and Kabul… The Persian historians do not seem to be aware that the name Kabus, which was borne by the Dilemite sovereigns, is the same with the Kaus of Romance; yet the more ancient form of Kaubus or Kabuj for latter name renders the identification also most certain. The Georgians, even to the present day, name the hero of romance Kapus still retaining the labial which has merged in the Persian Kaus… It can be hardly doubted that Zend Avestan alludes to Cambyses the elder, and Cyrus the Great, under the name of Kai-Kaus and Kai Khusro; but the actual forms under which the names are expressed, Kava-Uc and Hucarava, are to be adoptions of the Sassanian age… The native kings of Persis, agreeably to the usual system of oriental nomenclature, appear for several generations to have borne the alternative names of Cyrus and Cambyses. The two immediate ancestors of Cyrus the Great are named Cambyses and Cyrus by Herodotus and according to a doubtful passage of Diodorus Siculus preserved by Photius there was still another Cambyses, the fifth in ascent from the Kambujiya of the Inscriptions (See: Herodotus lib. I. c III and Phot. Bibilioth. p 1158 (Ed. And. Schot.)” (See: Memoir on Cuneiform Inscription, 1849,p 97-98, Cuneiform inscriptions; Also: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, Volume XI, Part 1, 1849, Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson– Re-Published 1990, pp 97-98, Cambridge University, Press for the Royal Asiatic Society [etc.]; See also: Yacna, p 438, sqq., M. Burnouf.
:::
http://kimhaekims.net/story-a_princess_from_ayodhya.htm
India’s early contacts with Korea date back more than 2000 years. Two thousand years ago, a 16 year old princess from Ayodhya, accompanied by her brother, sailed from India for Korea. We only know her by her Korean name, Huh Wang-Ock. There she wed King Kim Suro, founder of the ancient Korean kingdom of Karack. The King himself received her upon her arrival, and later built a temple at the place where they had first met. She is said to have died at the grand old age of 189. Her story is narrated in the ancient Korean history books, “Samkuksaki” and “Samkukyusa”.
Her tomb is located in Kimhae and there is a stone pagoda in front of the tomb. The pagoda is built with stones, which the princess is said to have brought with her from Ayodhya. They have engravings and red patterns. They are believed to have a mysterious power to calm stormy seas. The Kimhae kingdom’s influence is still felt in modern-day South Korea. Kimhae Kims and Kimhae Huhs trace their origins to this ancient kingdom and Korea’s current President Kim Dae Jung and Prime Minister Jong Pil Kim are Kimhae Kims.
In February, 2000, Kimhae Mayor Song Eun-Bok led a delegation to Ayodhya. The delegation proposed to develop Ayodhya as a sister city of Kimhae and there are plans to set up a memorial for Queen Huh. Note: Ayodhya is the modern Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh. It was the capital of the kingdom of Lord Ram, the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu.
References: Times of India. 15 May 2000, India Abroad 14 May 2000.
In the northern Indian city of Ayodhya, a visiting Korean delegation has inaugurated a memorial to their royal ancestor, Queen Huh. More than a-hundred historians and government representatives, including the North Korean ambassador to India, unveiled the memorial on the west bank of the River Saryu. Korean historians believe that Queen Huh was a princess of an ancient kingdom in Ayodhya. She went to Korea some two-thousand years ago and started the Karak dynasty by marrying a local king, Suro. Today, the historians say, Queen Huh’s descendants number more than six-million, including the South Korean president – Kim Dae Jung. According to a history book written in the 11th century in Korean language, “The History of Three Kingdoms”, the India-Korea relationship started in 48 AD when a princess from Ayodhya, Queen Hur Hwang-ho went to Korea and married King Suro Kim.
The memorial site in Ayodhya has become a place of pilgrimage for members of the clan. While unveiling the monument Bong Ho-Kim, president of the clan society, Republic of Korea had said: “Ayodhya being birthplace of our great Queen Huh, has acquired the status of a place for pilgrimage to over six million descendants.”
(source: South Korea’s Ayodhya connection – timesofindia.com).
According to a history book written in the 11th century in Korean language, “History of Three Kingdoms”, in the year 48 AD, an Indian princess by name Hur Hwang-ho (her Korean name), came to Korea from Ayodhya and married King Kim Suro of the ancient Korean Kingdom of Kaya which is now the Kimhae city. Kimhae City is the birthplace of this kingdom and thus has a historical link with Ayodhya. The clan of Kimhae Kims wants to perpetuate this memory.
(source: Festivities organized to honor Indian princess).
In 48 AD, Queen Suro or Princess Heo Hwang-ok is said to have made a journey from Lord Ram’s birthplace to Korea by sea, carrying a stone which calmed the waters. The stone is not found anywhere in Korea and is now a part of crucial evidence that the princess belonged to the city of Ayodhya in India.
“This stone is only found in India, proof that it came from there to Korea,” said Song Weon Young, city archeologist of Kimhae, a city near the big industrial town of Pusan. People of Kimhae were so fascinated by these links that they started research on it several years ago.
They also ran into a symbol of the Kaya Kingdon with two fish kissing each other, similar to that of the Mishra royal family in Ayodhya. The Princess is said to have given birth to 10 children, which marked the beginning of the powerful dynasty of Kimhae Kims. Kim Dae Jung, a former President also belongs to the same family name.
But even at the centre of these links lies a strong sense of commercial exchange between Korea and India.
The stone represents Kaya’s cultural heritage which did not stay in one place, and the stone indicates that commercial exchange has been on since the Queen came from India.
Thousands of miles away from Ayodhya, the stone is a small piece of history. The people in the city seem quite proud of their links with India, especially because Queen Suro gave rise to the Kim dynasty, a powerful family name in the country.
(source: Carved stones: Historic India-Korea links discovered – ndtv.com).http://kimhaekims.net/story-a_princess_from_ayodhya.htm
South Koreans may have Indian genes – A genetic discovery in South Korea has claimed that Koreans could have an Indian ancestor 2000 years ago. The findings have gained interests in the backdrop of the popular romantic legend of an Indian princess married to a Korean king of the Great Gaya dynasty. According to the legend, the Korean king from Southeast Korea, Kim Su-ro, married an Indian princess, Heo Hwang-ok, from the ancient Indian kingdom of Ayodhya.
The stories say that Heo travelled by ship to Korea. The Great Gaya dynasty ruled Southeast Korea till 562 AD. In fact, Heo is still a common family name in Korea.
The researchers now say that the myth could turn out to be true, according to the daily. More studies are in the offing. The genetic study at Gimhae tomb focused on the mitochondrial DNA in the human remains.
economic times.indiatimes.com).
India–South Korea relations
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India%E2%80%93South_Korea_relations
This cordial relationship between the two countries extends back to 48AD, when Queen Suro, or Princess Heo Hwang-ok, traveled from the kingdom of Ayodhya in North India to Korea.[8] According to the Samguk Yusa, the princess had a dream about a heavenly king who was awaiting heaven’s anointed ride. After Princess Heo had the dream, she asked her parents, the king and queen, for permission to set out and seek the man, which the king and queen urged with the belief that god orchestrated the whole fate.[9] Upon approval, she set out on a boat, carrying gold, silver, a tea plant, and a stone which calmed the waters.[8] Archeologists discovered a stone with two fish kissing each other, a symbol of the Gaya kingdom that is unique to the Mishra royal family in Ayodhya, India. This royal link provides further evidence that there was an active commercial engagements between India and Korea since the queen’s arrival to Korea.[8]
A famous Korean visitor to India was Hyecho, a Korean Buddhist monk from Silla, one the three Korean kingdoms of the period. On the advice of his Indian teachers in China, he set out for India in 723 CE to acquaint himself with the language and culture of the land of the Buddha. He wrote a travelogue of his journey in Chinese, Wang ocheonchukguk jeon or “An account of travel to the five Indian kingdoms”. The work was long thought to be lost. However, a manuscript turned up among the Dunhuang manuscripts during the early 20th century
Kim Suro http://altaic-wiki.wikispaces.com/history+of+korea#Korean history-Proto-Three Kingdoms Period-Gaya (? – 6C) founded Gaya confederacy and Ado Gan is King Suro’s father. Until the founding of Gaya, Byeon Han had been ruled by nine chiefs: Ado Gan, Yeodo Gan, Pido Gan, Odo Gan, Yucheon Gan, Sincheon Gan, Ocheon Gan, Yusu Gan, and Singui Gan.Administrative divisions
Geumgwan Gaya, Dae Gaya, Seongsan Gaya, Ara Gaya, Goryeong Gaya, So Gaya, etc.
Other names
Gara, Garak, Garyang
Byeonhan and Gaya people to Japan http://altaic-wiki.wikispaces.com/Korean+connection+to+Japanese
Byeonhan was located closest to Kyushu Japan. Originally Byeonhan was part of Mahan, and it was separated becoming Byeonhan and developing into Gaya. Ancient sites similar to Yayoi were found from Byeonhan and Kyushu area. People in Byeonhan area moved to Japan and they are known as Yayoi people in Japan. In the area of Byeonhan, ancient sites similar to Yayoi were found. Byeonhan became Gaya, but Gaya was a small country between Baekje and Silla. Gaya was constantly threathened by them. So they went oversea to find allies. Gaya-Japan ally confronted against Silla. Gaya was the main factory of steel in Korean penninsular. Lots of steel weapons and armors were excavated in Gaya. Gaya steel armors were found in Japan showing that they migrated to Japan later. Gaya was obsorbed by Silla, and some of them may have escaped to Japan.
Byeonhan was located closest to Kyushu Japan. Originally Byeonhan was part of Mahan, and it was separated becoming Byeonhan and developing into Gaya. Ancient sites similar to Yayoi were found from Byeonhan and Kyushu area. People in Byeonhan area moved to Japan and they are known as Yayoi people in Japan. In the area of Byeonhan, ancient sites similar to Yayoi were found. Byeonhan became Gaya, but Gaya was a small country between Baekje and Silla. Gaya was constantly threathened by them. So they went oversea to find allies. Gaya-Japan ally confronted against Silla. Gaya was the main factory of steel in Korean penninsular. Lots of steel weapons and armors were excavated in Gaya. Gaya steel armors were found in Japan showing that they migrated to Japan later. Gaya was obsorbed by Silla, and some of them may have escaped to Japan.
Miyasita record(富士宮下 文書) explains that Gaya people governed Japan for a thousand years before Yamato era. People of Gaya built U Gaya kingdom in Japan, and it was destroyed by Yamato
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Kayasthas http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080313215631AApwmac
[also Kulin Kayasthas http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kulin_Kayastha%5D
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kayastha (also referred to as Kayasth or Kayeth) is a caste or community of Hindus originating in India. Kayastha means “scribe” in Sanskrit, reflecting the caste’s traditional role as record-keepers and administrators of the state.[1] Kayasthas have historically occupied the highest government offices, serving as ministers and advisors during early medieval Indian kingdoms and the Mughal Empire…
According to the Hindu scriptures known as the Puranas, Kayasthas are descended from Chitragupta Maharaj, the deity responsible for recording the deeds of humanity, upholding the rule of law and judging whether human beings go to heaven or hell upon death
THE FIRST THEORY – MYTHOLOGICAL & MOST ACCEPTED
The first theory is the orthodox one, and is hitherto accepted generally by all castes and communities in India, based as it is on the authority of no less than four Puranas —viz. Padma Puran (Srishti Khand,Patal Khand and Uttar Khand), Bhavishya Purana, Yama Samhita, Mahabharata and Brihad Parashar Smriti.
It is said that Brahma, the Creator, having established the four varnas — Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra — ordained Dharamraj ( also called Yamraj, the god of death) to keep record of the deeds — good and evil — of all life-forms born and yet to be born on the earth, in the heavens above and in the lands below. Dharamraj, however, complained, “O Lord, how can I alone keep record of the deeds of the beings born into 84 lakh yonis (life-forms) in the three worlds?”
Brahma then closed his eyes, meditated for a while and lo and behold! there appeared a radiant figure with a quill-pen in one hand and an ink-pot in another. Brahma named him Chittagupta for he was conceived in his cognitive-self (chitta) and he was lying in Him, dormant and secret (gupta). He was born of Brahma’s body (kaya) and so the Lord decreed that his progenies be called Kayasthas. He was assigned to work as a minister, to write and record for Dharamraj. Thus, the fifth varna, the Kayastha, came into existence.
According to this the word Kayastha only meant residents of Kaya-desh or Madhya-desh, which was synonym to Ayodhia.
On this view it is possible to hazard a guess that the class or community of Kayasthas may have come into existence by the formation of something like a guild of all those people who, although drawn from educated members of more than one Dwij varanas, (viz. Brahmans, Kshattriyas and even possibly Vaishyas), took to and adopted government service or administration as their hereditary profession or calling from the earliest times in Hindu history.
Ayodhya pronunciation (help·info) (Sanskrit: अयोध्या, Urdu: ایودھیا, IAST Ayodhyā), also known as Saket (Sanskrit: साकेत, Urdu: ساکیت ) is an ancient city of India, birthplace of the Hindu avatar Rama, and setting of the epic Ramayana. It is located adjacent to the Faizabad district of in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, with which it has merged because of rapid settlement. Ayodhya used to be the capital of the ancient Kosala Kingdom, and has an average elevation of 93 meters (305 feet).
King Ayudh is mentioned in Hindu scriptures as a forefather of Lord Rama. His name comes from the Sanskrit root yudh, meaning “fight” or “wage war,” and it translates to either “not to be fought” or, less literally, “unconquerable.” During the time of Gautama Buddha, the city was called Ayojjhā in Pali, and Ayodhyā in Sanskrit, although though this city in scripture has also been said to be on the River Ganges.[7]
In the first centuries of the common era, it was called Saketa. Śāketa or 沙奇 (Pinyin: Shāqí) was conquered by the Kushan/Yuezhi Emperor Kanishka c. 127 CE, who made it administrative center of his eastern territories.[8][9] The name occurs again in Faxian as 沙祗 (Pinyin: Shāzhī) in the early 5th century. It is not clear when the name changed, but by the time of the visit of the Chinese pilgrim monk, Xuanzang, c. 636 CE, it was known as Ayodhya.
Ayodhya is located on the right bank of the river Saryu, 6 km from Faizaba. This town is closely associated with Rama, seventh incarnation of Vishnu. According to the Ramayana, the city is 9,000 years old, and was founded by Manu, the first man in the Vedas, and law-giver of the Hindus. Other sources hold that it was founded by its namesake, King Ayudh. For centuries, it was the capital for the Surya dynasty, of which Lord Rama was the most celebrated king. At the time it was known as Kaushaldesa.
Skanda and other puranas list Ayodhya as one of the seven most sacred cities of India, as it has been the backdrop for much of Hindu scripture. Today it is predominantly a religious destination with its historical significance and sacred temples. The Atharvaveda described Ayodhya as “a city built by Gods and being prosperous as paradise itself.”
Its first ruling king was Ikshvaku, of the solar clan Suryavansa and eldest son of Vaivasvata Manu. The sixth king of this line, Prithu, is linguistically the etymology of earth, or `Prithivi’. Mandhatri was a later king of the region, and the 31st king of his descent was Harischandra, known for his truthfulness, or Sathya-sandhata. His lineage was Surya Vamsa and, in turn known for their honesty as rulers.
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Kayasths were scribes, administrators, writers, magistrates, judges. lawyers, chief executive officers and village accountants in ancient South Asia. Kayasthas celebrate: Qalam and Dawaat (pen and ink-pot) worship, a Hindu ritual in which pens, papers and books were worshipped. This clearly shows that they were clerks and official record keepers of the kings. Kayasthas were valued in the second millennia by most kingdoms and princely states as desired citizens or immigrants within South Asia. They were treated more as a community rather than a Hindu caste because they developed expertise in Persian (the state language in Islamic India), learnt Turkish and Arabic, economics, administration and taxation.
The five Brahmin clans were each designated as Kulina (“superior”) in order to differentiate them from the more established local Brahmins. Four of the Kayastha clans were similarly designated. The fifth was refused the status because they would not accept that they were servants, as was the ritual rank of Shudra, and instead proclaimed themselves to be superior even to the Brahmins. While this fifth clan remained in Bengal and became the Datta (or Dutt) Kayasthas, one of the four which were granted the Kulina nomenclature – the Guhas – later moved to the east of the region, leaving three clans to become the main Kulin Kayastha communities: the Boses, the Mitras and the Ghoshes.[3]
Mitra (Proto-Indo-Iranian, nominative *Mitras) was an important Indo-Iranian divinity. Following the prehistoric cultural split of Indo-Aryan and Iranian cultures, names descended from *mitra were used for the following religious entities:
Mitra (Vedic) (Sanskrit Mitrá-, Mitráḥ), a deity who appears frequently in the ancient Sanskrit text of the Rigveda
Mithra (Avestan Miθra-, Miθrō), a yazata mentioned in the Zoroastrian sacred scripture of the Avesta, whose New Persian equivalent is Mīhr / Mehr (مِهر)
Maitreya, a bodhisattva who in the Buddhist tradition is to appear on Earth, achieve complete enlightenment, and teach the pure Dharma
Mithras, the principal figure of the Greco-Roman religion of Mithraism
Mitra (surname), an Indian family name and surname found mostly amongst Punjabi’s
Contents [hide]
1 Etymology
2 Indic Mitra
3 Iranian Mithra
4 Mithra in Commagene
5 Buddhist Maitreya
6 Graeco-Roman Mithras
7 References
[edit]Etymology
Both Vedic Mitra and Avestan Mithra derive from an Indo-Iranian common noun *mitra-, generally reconstructed to have meant “covenant, treaty, agreement, promise.” This meaning is preserved in Avestan miθra “covenant.” In Sanskrit and modern Indo-Aryan languages, mitra means “friend,” one of the aspects of binding[disambiguation needed] and alliance
The Indo-Iranian reconstruction is attributed[1] to Christian Bartholomae,[2] and was subsequently refined by A. Meillet (1907), who suggested derivation from the Proto-Indo-European root *mei “to exchange.”
A suggested alternative derivation was *meh “to measure” (Gray 1929). Pokorny (IEW 1959) refined Meillet’s *mei as “to bind.” Combining the root *mei with the “tool suffix” -tra- “that which [causes] …” (also found in man-tra-, “that which causes to think”), then literally means “that which binds,” and thus “covenant, treaty, agreement, promise, oath” etc. Pokorny’s interpretation also supports “to fasten, strengthen”, which may be found in Latin moenia “city wall, fortification”, and in an antonymic form, Old English (ge)maere “border, boundary-post”.
Meillet and Pokorny’s “contract” did however have its detractors. Lentz (1964, 1970) refused to accept abstract “contract” for so exalted a divinity and preferred the more religious “piety.” Because present-day Sanskrit mitra means “friend,” and New Persian mihr means “love” or “friendship,” Gonda (1972, 1973) insisted on a Vedic meaning of “friend, friendship,” not “contract”.
Meillet’s analysis also “rectified earlier interpretations”[1] that suggested that the Indo-Iranian common noun *mitra- had anything to do with the light or the sun. When H. Lommel suggested[3] that such an association was implied in the Younger Avesta (>6th c. BCE), that too was conclusively dismissed.[4] Today, it is certain that “(al)though Miθra is closely associated with the sun in the Avesta, he is not the sun” and “Vedic Mitra is not either.”[1]
Old Persian Mitra or Miθra – both only attested in a handful of 4th century BCE inscriptions of Artaxerxes II and III – “is generally admitted [to be] a borrowing from the Avesta,”[5] the genuine Old Persian form being reconstructed as *Miça. (Kent initially suggested Sanskrit[6] but later[5] changed his mind). Middle Iranian myhr (Parthian, also in living Armenian usage) and mihr (Middle Persian), derive from Avestan Mithra.
Greek/Latin “Mithras,” the focal deity of the Greco-Roman cult of Mithraism is the nominative form of vocative Mithra. In contrast to the original Avestan meaning of “contract” or “covenant” (and still evident in post-Sassanid Middle Persian texts), the Greco-Roman Mithraists probably thought the name meant “mediator.” In Plutarch’s first century discussion of dualistic theologies, Isis and Osiris (46.7) the Greek historiographer provides the following explanation of the name in his summary of the Zoroastrian religion: Mithra is a meson (“in the middle”) between “the good Horomazdes and the evil Aremanius […] and this is why the Pérsai call the Mediator Mithra”. Zaehner[7] attributes this false etymology to a role that Mithra (and the sun!) played in the now extinct branch of Zoroastrianism known as Zurvanism.
Indic Mitra http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitra
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitra
Maitreya is sometimes represented seated on a throne Western-style, and venerated both in Mahāyāna and non-Mahāyāna Buddhism. Some have speculated that inspiration for Maitreya may have come from the ancient Indo-Iranian deity Mithra. The primary comparison between the two characters appears to be the similarity of their names. According to a book entitled The Religion of the Iranian Peoples, “No one who has studied the Zoroastrian doctrine of the Saoshyants or the coming saviour-prophets can fail to see their resemblance to the future Maitreya.[16]
Paul Williams claims that some Zoroastrian ideas like Saoshyant influenced the beliefs about Maitreya, such as “expectations of a heavenly helper, the need to opt for positive righteousness, the future millennium, and universal salvation”. Possible objections are that these characteristics are not unique to Zoroastrianism, nor are they necessarily characteristic of the belief in Maitreya
: Mitra (Vedic)
Vedic Mitra is a prominent deity of the Rigveda distinguished by a relationship to Varuna, the protector of rta. Together with Varuna, he counted among the Adityas, a group of solar deities, also in later Vedic texts. Vedic Mitra is the patron divinity of honesty, friendship, contracts and meetings.
The first extant record of Indo-Aryan[8] Mitra, in the form mi-it-ra-, is in the inscribed peace treaty of c. 1400 BC between Hittites and the Hurrian kingdom of the Mitanni in the area southeast of Lake Van in Asia Minor. There Mitra appears together with four other Indo-Aryan divinities as witnesses and keepers of the pact.
[edit]Iranian Mithra
Main article: Mithra
In Zoroastrianism, Mithra is a member of the trinity of ahuras, protectors of asha/arta, “truth” or “[that which is] right”. Mithra’s standard appellation is “of wide pastures” suggesting omnipresence. Mithra is “truth-speaking, … with a thousand ears, … with ten thousand eyes, high, with full knowledge, strong, sleepless, and ever awake.” (Yasht 10.7). As preserver of covenants, Mithra is also protector and keeper of all aspects of interpersonal relationships, such as friendship and love.
Related to his position as protector of truth, Mithra is a judge (ratu), ensuring that individuals who break promises or are not righteous (artavan) are not admitted to paradise. As also in Indo-Iranian tradition, Mithra is associated with (the divinity of) the sun but originally distinct from it. Mithra is closely associated with the feminine yazata Aredvi Sura Anahita, the hypostasis of knowledge.
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http://www.korea.net/kois/pds/jobpds/essay_2000_0301.html
“The ancient cultures of our countries were in touch with each other as early as 1st century AD. In fact, legend has it that they began when a 16 year old princess from Ayodhya in India, named Hwang-Ok sailed across the tumultuous waters , carrying a pasa stone pagoda in a ship with red sails to arrive at Korea to marry King Kim Suro Why else would generations of sailors chip away tiny pieces of the pagoda to carry with them as talismans on their voyages?
Another legend is the story of how 57,000 pounds of yellow iron and 30,000 pounds of gold came all the way from King Ashoka in India to King Chinhung in Korea who molded them into the beautiful image of the Buddha.
Thus India’s first exports to the land of morning calm were not grains or seeds but a cultural package called Buddhism. Indian monks travelling to Korea to spread Buddha’s gospel and Korean monks making the assiduous pilgrimage to Buddha’s birthplace were active agents in this cultural collaboration. Foremost among these was Hyecho whose “Record of a Journey to the Five Indian Kingdoms” is an invaluable historical document. Needles to say, the Korean vocabulary absorbed many Sanskrit words and concepts. Words include ‘Narak’, ‘Bhikuni’ and ‘Stupa’. ‘Brahma’, ‘Indra’, ‘Nidana’ etc. number among the concepts. ”
http://www.korea.net/kois/pds/jobpds/essay_2000_0301.htm
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Ayodhya has a link, dating more than 2,000 years back, with South Korea!
Legend goes that Queen Huh, wife of King Suro who was the founder of Karak kingdom in Korea, was born in Ayodhya. Her father, the then king of Ayodhya, was advised in a dream by supernatural powers that he should marry off his daughter to the Korean king. Subsequently, she was sent there in the middle of the first century AD. In fact, a plaque inscribed at Huh’s monument at the banks of river Saryu narrates this story.
The legend is part of South Korean history and came out in 2001, when the mayors of Ayodhya and Kim-Hae town of South Korea signed a “sister city bond” to commemorate their historical ties. The three-metre-high stone monument weighs more than 7,500 kg. Stone for the monument was brought in from South Korea and it was built according to Korean traditions.
“It is believed that an Indian princess Suriratna from Ayodhya came to Korea in 48AD, married King Kim Suro and became Queen Huh Hwang-ok. Millions of Koreans trace their lineage to this union.” – a speech by Ambassador Vishnu Prakash, Sept 2012 “Strategic Partners: Growing synergies between India and Korea”
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INDIAN PRINCESS HEO HWANG OCK WEDS KOREAN KING KIM SOO-RO
http://ajitvadakayil.blogspot.jp/2012/07/korean-brahmins-kim-hae-clan-capt-ajit.html
When Heo arrived at Korea in 49 CE , along with her brother , Kim personally received here– all 7 feet of him. He was struck by her great beauty and charm. She was what he had dreamt of . He named her yellow jade in Korean.
He had resisted marrying any local girl , constantly repeating that God would take care of this. Both Heo and Kim dreamt of this divine union. Her conservative father consulted astrologers and let her go to a distant land, with her brother as guard.
Kim built a temple at the place where they had first met. She is said to have died at the grand old age of 159. Her story is narrated in the ancient Korean history books, “Samkuksaki” and “Samkukyusa”.
The pagoda is also called Chimpungtap (Wind Calming Pagoda). She also carried a potted plant of tea. This is the legend of Korean tea.
A pagoda of a right handed Swastika depicted as fish, to appease the ocean god Varuna during the dangerous voyage to Korea can be seen thereMembers of both the Heo lineages (including the clans of Gimhae, Hayang, Taein, and Yangcheon (Gongam) and the Gimhae Kim lineage consider themselves descendants of Heo Hwang-ok and King Suro. Her descendants prospered and became the largest clan in Korea, the Karak, known for their intellect and character. President of South Korea, Kim Dae-Jung is an examples.
Members of both the Heo lineages (including the clans of Gimhae, Hayang, Taein, and Yangcheon (Gongam) and the Gimhae Kim lineage consider themselves descendants of Heo Hwang-ok and King Suro. Heo’s tomb lies with Kim’s at Gimhae, South Korea
Heo loved by one and all , bore Kim 10 handsome sons. Two of them chose the mother’s name and the Heo clan trace their origins to this.
The Gimhae Kims trace their origin to the other eight sons. There are 9 million of this Karak dynasty –Kim Kimhae clan and Heo Gimhae clan
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2000-yr-old link ties Ayodhya, Korea
24/10/2010 15:00:45 Rahul Datta | New Delhi – Daily Pioneer http://www.haindavakeralam.com/HKPage.aspx?PageID=12431
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On the Trail of 2 Lost Kingdoms http://kimhaekims.net/On%20the%20Trail%20of%202%20Lost%20Kingdoms.htm
> Yes, the connection between Korea(Gaya) and India in the 1st century
> CE is one of the historical mysteries.
Buddhism: The Bridge Between Korea and India
By Santosh Kumar Gupta
In the relationship between Korea and India, whenever we think of our
ancestors a clear cut Buddhist influence emerges. Some scholars have
recently suggested the origins of a link between Korea and India and
their research is worthy of consideration. Buddhism is the bridge that
used to link these two nations, promoting the exchange of ideas and
traditions.
It took many centuries for Buddhism to grow and spread, but it has
played a pivotal role in the region. After its entry into Korea,
Buddhism found wide acceptance, being embraced by a large number of
people. Now this common heritage can offer the means of attaining a
cultural understanding between India and Korea.
While Buddhism was officially introduced into Korea in A.D. 372
through China, there are wide-ranging scholarly debates over the
chronology and method of its introduction. Many scholars assert that
Buddhism came to Korea directly from India, while another group
asserts that Buddhism came to Korea through central Asia.
One line of argument says that Princess Ho of Ayodhya married King
Suro of Korea. He founded the Kaya Dynasty in the 1st century A.D.
According to Samgukyusa (a historical book of the Three Kingdoms),
after arriving on Korean soil, Princess Ho said, “I am a princess of
Ayuta of India. My parents had a dream in which they saw that the holy
King Suro of Karak was not yet married, so they sent me to become your
queen. Thus, I started on my long voyage.” After King Suro married
the princess of India, the royal couple had a son and lived happily
for many years.
The matrimonial alliance of Suro and Ho resembled the confluence of
two harmonious beings _ heaven and earth, the sun and the moon. The
name Suro is very similar to “sura,” a religious drink of ancient
India. It is also used as a “suravira” in ancient Indian History.
Numerous elements in this legendary saga indicate the deep
relationship between two. Suro is supposed to have said, “A heavenly
god commanded me to descend to earth, establish a kingdom and become
its king.” Here Suro sought to legitimize his rein, a method common
among Indian kings for consolidating their authority.
The story of Ho demonstrates the manner in which Buddhism spread.
According to the historical records, Princess Ho brought a pagoda and
Buddha statue along with her. It is also mentioned that her servants
and attendants were with her.
A recent genetic discovery made by Korean scientists establishes a
relationship between India and Korea. It is further corroborated by
DNA evidence. It is a matter of pleasure and pride that many centuries
ago an Indian Princess was married to a Korean king. This matrimonial
alliance between the two was perhaps the foundation of interaction
between Korea and India.
Buddhism assimilated with the indigenous culture, emerged as the
national religion of Korea, penetrating to the nation’s core.
Many Buddhist monks worked to shape the religion, a major early figure
being Marananta, who came to Paekje in the 4th century A.D. However,
it is the Samguksagi is not clear on how an Indian monk came to
receive a warm welcome from the king. In A.D. 574 three Indian monks
came to the peninsula with a Korean monk, Anhong, and initiated the
construction of many monasteries and temples.
According to one story, King Ayuk (Muwa), identified with Ashoka
Maurya of India, sent iron and gold to Korea to cast the image of the
Buddha. Koreans used the metals to construct the monastery. However,
the historical records show the Ashokan period was much earlier than
the construction of the Hwangnyong Monastery.
After the introduction of Buddhism to Korea, many scholars and monks
exhibited great enthusiasm for visiting India to learn more about
Buddhism or for pilgrimages to places important to the memory of the
Buddha. Some Korean monks set out for India in the early 6th century
A.D.
The monk Kyomic was the first to visit India. He studied the Vinaya
text, first going to the Samghana Temple of central India where he
collected the Sanskrit text of the Mahisasaka Vinaya. Later an Indian
monk, Devadatta (Pei-da-duo) ,came to Korea with Kyomic where he
translated 72 books of the Vinaya under the patronage of the King Song
of Paekje.
From the early 8th century onwards, Korean Buddhists showed a keen
interest in India and Indian culture. The cultural bridge between the
two countries grew from then onwards, Buddhist monks being credited
for nurturing the relationship. Biographies of eminent monks of the
Tang Dynasty in China recorded the brief histories of some 56 pilgrims
who went to India. Among these was a Korean monk, A–nan-ya-bal-ma, who
stayed at the Nalanda Monastery, possibly, even dying there. Another
monk, Hye-op, also stayed in the Nalanda Monastery. One famous monk,
Hyon-t’ae, (Sarvajnadeva) went to India via China, Tibet and Nepal. He
went to Bodhgaya in Bihar and stayed near the Bodhi tree where the
Buddha is said to have achieved enlightenment. In addition, Hyon-gaki
(Parampujya) and Hsuan-chao also visited the Mahabodhi Monastery of
Bihar.
Hyeryun, or Prajnavarman, spent ten years in the Amaravati Monastery
studying Dharma. Going further east, he visited the nearby Tukhara
Samgharama situated in northern India. Tukhara was an important
location for Buddhist monks of Central Asia, China, Korea and India.
Hyeryun studied Sanskrit in this monastery, becoming a famous monk in
Korea. Buddhism was thus the vehicle for monks of both nations for
promoting cultural ties.
Taebom and Hyech’o were another two monks who returned to China after
visiting India, making major contributions to the development of
Buddhism there. Hyech’o first traveled to the Nicobar Islands in the
Bay of Bengal before moving on to eastern India. He visited many
places in India, including Nalanda, Bodhgaya, Kusinagar, to show his
respect for the Buddha. In the 8th century A.D. he returned to China
via Samarkant, Turkestan and Kucha. He studied esoteric Buddhism under
the guidance of the famous master Vajra-bodhi of India.
At that time Buddhism flourished all over Korea, receiving the
patronage of the state. The saga of Indo-Korean contacts commenced at
the beginning of the Christian era and attained maturity during the
11th and 12th centuries A.D.
In a world of malice and distrust, with many nations unprepared to
accept the mere existence of another, these two Asian nations should
work for mutual understanding to further cooperation by drawing on
deep cultural roots. We can draw our inspiration and strength from
Buddhism.
URL: http://times.hankooki.com/cgi-bin/hkiprn.cgi?pa=/lpage/nation/
200410/kt2004100518562811950.htm&ur=times.hankooki.com&fo=print_kt.htm
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India: The Origin of Korea?http://www.rjkoehler.com/2010/02/26/india-the-origin-of-korea/
Posted on February 26, 2010 by robert neff
King Suro’s Tomb – Wikipedia Picture
I realize that we have talked about Korea’s racial purity before when I blogged about the Vietnam connection but this time I thought we could look at the Indian connection. Archeologist and Professor Emeritus of Hanyang University, Kim Byong-mo, seems to be one of the sources for the resurgence of Korean-Indian brotherhood. He recently announced while visiting India:
“I share my genes with the royal family of Ayodhya. Travellers from both these countries not just traded goods, but also genes. And I hail from the Kara (Kaya) dynasty, whose first woman was the princess of Ayodhya, who married the first Kara king. Her brothers went on to become the Kings of Ayodhya and this is how I am genetically connected to the holy city…The queen of Korea’s biggest dynasty Hoh was the daughter of Ayodhya and in that manner, Ayodhya is like our mother city. Princess Ho travelled by sea route and married King Kim Suro of Kara dynasty. He was the first king and the entire Kara clan, which comprises over about two-third the population of Korea are its descendents.”
And who are some of these descendants?
Naturally the Kim family – specifically the Gimhae Kims and the Heo family such as the former Prime Minister of South Korea Heo Jeong(Korean link), Heo Young-saeng of the Korean boy band SS501 (don’t hate me I am only linking).
The more famous and powerful Kims are – Kim Jong-pil (OutlookIndia) is reported to have written a letter to Bimlendra Mohan Mishra, a member of the Ayodhya ruling family describing his visit to India in March 2001 as being “very meaningful” and fulfilled his desire to visit Ayodhya and claimed that he was the 72nd generation descendant of the King Kim Suro or the Karak Kingdom.” Kim Dae-jung was also of the same clan so that means he too would have been related to the princess.
Korea’s First Lady, Kim Yoon-ok, also claims to be a descendant of Heo Hwang-ok, a princess from an ancient kingdom in Ayodhya, India.
“Heo arrived on a boat and married King Suro of Korea’s Gaya Kingdom in A.D. 48, according to Samguk Yusa, an 11th-century collection of legends and stories. The chronicle says Princess Heo had a dream about a handsome king from a far away land. After the dream, Heo asked her royal parents for permission to set out on an adventure to find the man of her fate. The ancient book indicates that she sailed to the Korean Peninsula, carrying a stone, with which she claimed to have calmed the waters. Archeologists discovered a stone with two fish kissing each other in Korea, which is a unique cultural heritage linked to a royal family in Ayodhya. The stone is evidence that there were active commercial exchanges between the two sides after the princess’s arrival here.
The princess is said to have given birth to 10 children, which marked the beginning of the powerful dynasty of Gimhae Kims. Members of both the Heo and Gimhae Kim lineages consider themselves descendants of Heo Hwang-ok and King Suro. Two of the couple’s 10 sons chose the mother’s name. The Heo clans trace their origins to them, and regard Heo as the founder of their lines. The Gimhae Kims trace their origin to the eight other sons.”
Korea’s Mecca?
Prof. Kim in 1997 informed the local Indian government in Ayodhya of the Korean-Indian connection and had work started on a statue or memorial to celebrate it (I could not find a picture of this monument anywhere). Bimlendra Mohan Mishra, a member of the Ayodhya ruling family said, “the Korean connection came as a major surprise to us. I expect the memorial to Queen Huh, now being built here in Ayodhya, to become a major pilgrim centre for Koreans.” In 2004, when the memorial was unveiled, Prof. Kim echoed Mishra’s sentiments when he said, “Ayodhya being birthplace of our great Queen Huh, has acquired the status of a place for pilgrimage to over six million descendants.”
The Appeal: Fact or Fiction
Not sure of how much of Mecca it has become for Koreans but the story is certainly one that appeals to many people. Former Indian Ambassador to Korea, N. Partharsarathi, wrote a fictional account of the mixed royal couple in 2007. The present Indian Ambassador, Skand Tayal, is also quick to note the ancient connection between the two countries. According to JoongAng Daily’s interview with the former ambassador:
In recounting the story in person, as he does in his book, the ambassador slips easily between historical evidence and the legends that pervade the era. “It was a time when gods used to appear and lots of things happened,” he said. “What’s more important than what is reality is what could be.”
In building the case for the historical side of the book, Parthasarathi pointed to several “puzzle pieces” that suggest the connection between India and Korea. He spoke of the venerated monk Jangyoohwasang, supposedly the brother of the princess, and Chilbul Temple, or “The Temple of the Seven Buddhas,” said to have been constructed by King Su-ro in celebration of his seven Buddhist monk sons reaching Nirvana. To Parthasarathi, these are pieces of evidence indicating that Buddhism reached Korea far earlier than many believe, as the Gaya Kingdom existed around the turn of the last millennium. Current thinking goes that Buddhism came here from China in the fourth century A.D.
“It’s reasonable to assume Buddhism was here earlier,” said the ambassador.
The second puzzle piece is the name of the kingdom itself. “Why should the kingdom’s name be Gaya? The most famous place where Buddha was enlightened in India was Gaya,” he said. “I’m not saying that there is a link, but it could be there.”
But how much of this story is true? Sarah M. Nelson, author of The Archaelogy of Korea(1993), said “Most scholars decline to take the [story of the] Indian princess literally.” A poster on this board (half way down) suggested that the princess may have been from Thailand citing the old name for Siam’s capital as being very similar to Ayodhya.
But according to a JoongAng article (that I can not actually find but have seen copied everywhere including this large pdf file, and these -here and here and here- boards) in 2004 DNA samples taken from Kaya tombs in southern Korea indicated a link between Korea and India. This Buddhist site claims that Princess Heo was responsible for the introduction of Buddhism, at least to the people of Kaya.
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outh Koreans may have Indian genes http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2004-08-21/news/27407178_1_south-koreans-joong-ang-daily-korean-king
Shantanu Nandan Sharma, TNN Aug 21, 2004, 11.51pm IST
SEOUL: A genetic discovery in South Korea has claimed that Koreans could have an Indian ancestor 2000 years ago.
As was reported by leading South Korean newspaper Joong Ang Daily on Friday, researchers in an archaeological survey at ancient royal tomb of Gimhae in South Gyeongsang province, found some evidence to support claims that Koreans have DNA traceable to South or South East Asian ethnic groups like Indian, Malaysian or Thai.
Dr Seo Jeong-sun of Seoul National University and Kim Jong-il of Hallym University conducted the research and decoded the entire genetic code of ancient Korean remains. They have recently presented their findings at a meeting of the Korea Genome Organisation in Chuncheon, Gangwong province.
The findings have gained interests in the backdrop of the popular romantic legend of an Indian princess married to a Korean king of the Great Gaya dynasty. According to the legend, the Korean king from Southeast Korea, Kim Su-ro, married an Indian princess, Heo Hwang-ok, from the ancient Indian kingdom of Ayodhya.
The stories say that Heo travelled by ship to Korea. The Great Gaya dynasty ruled Southeast Korea till 562 AD. In fact, Heo is still a common family name in Korea.
The researchers now say that the myth could turn out to be true, according to the daily. More studies are in the offing. The genetic study at Gimhae tomb focused on the mitochondrial DNA in the human remains.
Mitochondria are cellular components that are the source of power for animal and human cells and have DNA which is passed to succeeding generations through the material line. This transmission makes such DNA valuable in studying family evolution.
In fact, it has always been assumed that Koreans are an ethnically homogeneous group that originated in Mongolia. The daily quoted Dr Kim as saying, “More studies need to be done. But this discovery could be the beginning of identifying the Korean race.”
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http://blog.korea.net/?p=6640
the legendary story of “Ayodhya princess and the Korean King Suro of Korea”. The legend of the Indian princess is narrated in Samguk Yusa, a Korean text written by a monk, Iryon (1206 AD-1289 AD). It is set in the Kaya kingdom in the first century CE
Kim Suro’s Tomb
The rationale for a close relationship between India and South Korea has been reinforced in modern times by political and economic imperatives.
Gimhae, the city where the Indian princess from Ayodhya landed and married Kim Su-ro, signed an MOU establishing a sister-city relationship with Faizabad-Ayodhya. A monument in memory of the princess was erected in March 2001 at a site donated by the Ayodhya administration.
Busan and Mumbai signed an MOU on mutual cooperation in 1977. Gyeonggi Province signed an MOU for mutual benefit with the State Government of Maharashtra in March 2007. Seoul has a sister-city relationship with Mumbai and has expressed interest in establishing a sister-city relationship with Delhi. And twinning between Pocheon & Jaipur and Incheon & Kolkata is at an advanced stage.
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http://www.indianexpress.com/news/korean-relative-of-kings-of-ayodhya-goes-on-evidence-hunting/569976/0
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/korean-relative-of-kings-of-ayodhya-goes-on-evidence-hunting/569976
Korean relative of Kings of Ayodhya goes on evidence hunting
A Professor Emeritus of Hanyang University and national archeologist from Korea, Prof Byung Mo Kim shares a ‘genetic connection’ with Ayodhya.
“I share my genes with the royal family of Ayodhya. Travellers from both these countries not just traded goods, but also genes. And I hail from the Kara dynasty, whose first woman was the princess of Ayodhya, who married the first Kara king. Her brothers went on to become the Kings of Ayodhya and this is how I am genetically connected to the holy city,” said Prof Kim.
The archaeologist, whose work on the princess of Ayodhya marrying the prince of Korea’s Kara dynasty in 4th century AD has received widespread recognition, is on his fifth visit to the Holy city in search of more evidence for his study.
On his three-day visit to the state, he not only visited Ayodhya but also made a slide presentation on historical evidences of cultural links between Ayodhya and Korea, on being invited by the state government’s Ayodhya Shodh Sansthan. “The queen of Korea’s biggest dynasty Hoh was the daughter of Ayodhya and in that manner, Ayodhya is like our mother city. Princess Ho travelled by sea route and married King Kim Suro of Kara dynasty. He was the first king and the entire Kara clan, which comprises over about two-third the population of Korea are its descendents,” said Prof Kim.
The twin fish, which is the state symbol of Uttar Pradesh and is found on almost all the ancient buildings of Ayodhya, is the biggest clue to the link and the route undertaken by Princess Hoh, says the professor. “I have pictorial evidences. The twin fish symbol is originally from the Meditarrenean states and it travelled to this part of the world and settled around Lucknow. But the same twin fish symbol can also be seen in ancient buildings in Nepal, Pakistan, China and Japan and the gate of royal tomb of King Suro in Kimhae city in Korea,” said Prof Kim.
But, it is not this connection alone that has brought the archaeologist here as he also seeks a cultural connect between Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh and Kimhae city in Korea.
“For the last 40 years, I have been tracing the route taken by the princess between Ayodhya and Kimhae city and after five visits, I have all the evidence to culturally connect the two cities.”
Nearly six years ago, the Korean government had declared Ayodhya as the sister city of Korea and a monument in the memory of Princess Hoh was also established here in the city.
“The Kara clan is the biggest community in Korea and we like to visit our queen mother’s place. Through these visits, we are making attempts to talk to the Uttar Pradesh government to open up their doors for strengthening cultural relations between the two countries,” said Prof Kim.
Ayodhya Shodh Sansthan director Dr Y P Singh said the state’s culture department is making all efforts to help the Koreans find their missing links.
“Through these interactions, we have been able to find new facets of Ayodhya and now in addition to being Lord Ram’s birthplace, the city has another significance attached,” said Singh.k
Korean nobility http://www.familytreedna.com/public/koreannobility/default.aspx There were dolmens and Germanic Caucasian Population Settlements in North Korea. North Koreans are Germanic Caucasian Settlers of R1B from the bronze age. 43% of North Koreans are genetically proven to have R1B which is similar to the amount of 40~50% R1A in India and the Middle East.
Turkic peoples http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkic_peoples#cite_note-Golden-20
Golden, Peter (1992). An Introduction of the Turkic Peoples: Ethnogenesis and State Formation in Medieval and Early Modern Asia and the Middle East. O. Harrassowitz. ISBN 3-447-03274-X.
Golden, Peter B. “Some Thoughts on the Origins of the Turks and the Shaping of the Turkic Peoples”. (2006) In: Contact and Exchange in the Ancient World. Ed. Victor H. Mair. University of Hawai’i Press.[2].
quote:”The ethnonym “Turk” has similar connections. The Chinese form, “T’u-chùeh” < ‘T’uat-kiwat reflects “Turkut”, the plural form, as we have noted. This plural in –t could be Altaic. It is common in Mongol, rare in Old Turkic, and usually found in titles taken from the Jou-jan (e.g., tegin, tegit) —who, it is believed, but not universally, were speakers of some Proto-Mongolian Ianguage (they contained Hsiun-pi [Proto-Mongolian] and Hsiung-nu elements; Janhunen [1996,190], however, recently asserted a possible Turkic affiliation). It might also be Soghdian or some other Iranian tongue. In the earliest inscription from the Tùrk empire, the Bugut Inscription, which is written in Soghdian, not Turkic, we find trwkt ‘ ‘sy-ns’: Turkit / Turukit Ashinas (Mori-yasu and Ochir 1999,123). The Sui-shu tells us that the name “Tûrk” in their own tongue means “helmet” and that it comes from the fact that the Altay région, where we find the Tùrks at the time in which they form their empire, looks like a helmet. “The people call it a ‘helmet,’ t’u-chiïeh; therefore, they cail themselves by this name” (Liu 1958,1: 40). This is a folk etymology, and there is no attested Turkic form of “Tùrk” meaning “helmet.” As Rôna-Tas has pointed out, however, there is a Khotancse-Saka word, tturaka, meaning “lid” (1999,278–281). It is not a serious semantic stretch to “helmet.” Subsequently, “Tùrk” would find a suitable Turkic etymology, being conflated with the word tùrk, which means one in the prime of youth, powerful, mighty” (Rona-Tas 1991,10-13). It seems hard to avoid the conclusion that the Tùrks, per se, had strong connections with — if not ultimate origins in — Irano-Tocharian east Turkistan. They, or at least the Ashina, were migrants to southern Siberia-northern Mongolia, where we seem to find the major concentration of Turkic-speaking peoples. There are a considarable number of Tocharian and Iranian loan words in Old Turkic — although a good number of these may have been acquired, especially in the case of Soghdian terms, during the Tùrk impérial period, when the Soghdians were a subject people, an important mercantile-commercial element in the Tùrk state, and culture-bearers across Eurasia. It also should be noted here that the early Tùrk rulers bore names of non-Turkic origin. The founders of the state are Bumïn (d. 552) and his brother Ishtemi (552-575), the Yabghu Qaghan, who governed the western part of the realm. Among their successors are ‘Muqan/Mughan/Mahân/Muhân (553–572), Tas(t)par (572 -581), and Nivar/Nâbàr/Nawâr (581-587). None of these names is Turkic (Golden 1992,121–122; Rybatzki 2000.206-221).”
András Róna-Tas, Hungarians and Europe in the early Middle Ages: an introduction to early Hungarian history, Central European University Press, 1999,
PP 281:”We can now reconstruct the history of the ethnic name Turk as follows. The word is of East Iranian, most probably Saka, origin, and is the name of a ruling tribe whose leading clan Ashina conquered the Turks, reorganized them, but itself became rapidly Turkified”
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The most common hg J 39.39%Azeris;
http://www.researchgate.net/publication/232742809_Iranian_Azeri’s_Y-Chromosomal_Diversity_in_the_Context_of_Turkish-Speaking_Populations_of_the_Middle_East
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:JvBtcixs9zgJ:journals.tums.ac.ir/pdf/17783+&hl=en&gl=jp&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgDWldlVT9KVFGwdXOW3ZTj-PdL7yLGU28YhocqgFYePE_-MQReMVwj6mbmylL2mXQsZujSkP-hij4GTIxjyCEyXBKu0jsWOvd_jueCFRPOaGr-8UDtyxDmtzBSAssn5Fs_-yLJ&sig=AHIEtbQfqyFMI5S0thf56Akw__3OcEzZHA
Between the 3rd and 2nd millenia the Iranian plateau became exposed to incursions from pastoral nomads from the Central Asian steppes. Presumably through an elite-dominance process existing Dravidian language across the region became substituted by Indo-Iranian language which is a branch of Indo-European language. Also their genetic impacts were as significant as the imposition of their language, which is clearly observed in Iran, Pakistan and northern India.
The dominance of the Arabs came to a sudden end in the mid-eleventh century with the arrival of the Seljuk Turks, a clan of the Oguz Turks. The expanding waves of these Altaic speaking nomads from Central Asia involved regions further to the West, such as Iran, Iraq, Anatolia, Caucasus where they imposed Altaic (Turkish) languages. In these Western regions, however, the genetic contribution is low or undetectable, even though the power of these invaders was sometimes strong enough to impose a language replacement, such as in Turkey and Azerbaijan.
Iran’s Ethnic Azeris And The Language Question By Abbas Djavadi July 19, 2010 http://www.rferl.org/content/Irans_Ethnic_Azeris_And_The_Language_Question/2103609.html
Iranian Azeris have compelling reasons for feeling fully Iranian. For one thing, Iranian-Azeri dynasties ruled the country for centuries and did much to uphold the nation’s existence and unity. Having been in Iran for thousands of years, Iran’s Azeris have never felt like a minority or newly arrived people.
Mir Hossein Musavi is an ethnic Azeri.
In the 16th century, the ethnic-Azeri Safavid dynasty restored Iran’s unity after the destruction and chaos of the Mongol invasion. They introduced Shi’ite Islam as the country’s state religion, a key part of the country’s emerging national identity.
In the first part of the 20th century, ethnic Azeris led the Constitutional Revolution against the despotism of the (ethnic Azeri) Qajar regime and the imperialism of Russia and Great Britain.
Religion also plays a key factor in uniting ethnic Azeris with other Iranians. Sharing the Shi’ite confession of Islam with their Persian compatriots means that Iranian Azeris have felt closer to them than to Sunni Turks or other peoples beyond Iran’s borders.
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Iranian Azeri’s Y-Chromosomal Diversity in the Context of Turkish-Speaking Populations of the Middle East.
L Andonian, S Rezaie, A Margaryan, Dd Farhud, K Mohammad, K Holakouie Naieni, Mr Khorramizadeh, M H Sanati, M Jamali, P Bayatian, L Yepiskoposyan
Dept. of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran Iran.
Iranian Journal of Public Health (impact factor: 0.38). 01/2011; 40(1):119-23
ABSTRACT
The main goal of this study was to conduct a comparative population genetic study of Turkish speaking Iranian Azeries as being the biggest ethno-linguistic community, based on the polymorph markers on Y chromosome.
One hundred Turkish-speaking Azeri males from north-west Iran (Tabriz, 2008-2009) were selected based on living 3 generations paternally in the same region and not having any relationship with each other. Samples were collected by mouth swabs, DNA extracted and multiplex PCR done, then 12 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) and 6 Microsatellites (MS) were sequenced. Obtained data were statistically analyzed by Arlequin software.
SNPs and Microsatellites typing were compared with neighboring Turkish-speaking populations (from Turkey and Azerbaijan) and Turkmens representing a possible source group who imposed the Turkish language during 11-15(th) centuries AD. Azeris demonstrated high level of gene diversity compatible with patterns registered in the neighboring Turkish-speaking populations, whereas the Turkmens displayed significantly lower level of genetic variation. This rate of genetic affiliation depends primarily on the geographic proximity.
The imposition of Turkish language to this region was realized predominantly by the process of elite dominance, i.e. by the limited number of invaders who left only weak patrilineal genetic trace in modern populations of the region
N3 Tat and YAP
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The Kambojas were an Indo-Iranian tribe.[1] However, the ancient Kambojas are sometimes described as Indo-Aryans[2][3][4][5] or as having both Indian and Iranian affinities.[6][6][7][7][8][8][9][10][11] However, most scholars now agree that the Kambojas were Iranians,[12][13][14][15] cognate with the Indo-Scythians. The Kambojas are also described as a royal clan of the Sakas
Dwivedi 1977: 287 “The Kambojas were probably the descendants of the Indo-Iranians popularly known later on as the Sassanians and Parthians who occupied parts of north-western India in the first and second centuries of the Christian era.”
Dwivedi, R. K., (1977) “A Critical study of Changing Social Order at Yuganta: or the end of the Kali Age” in Lallanji Gopal, J.P. Singh, N. Ahmad and D. Malik (eds.) (1977) D.D. Kosambi commemoration volume. Varanasi: Banaras Hindu University.
there are several similarities between the Kamboja Pala ruling family and the so-called Pala ruling family of Bengal: e.g.
The names Rajyapala, Narayanapala and Nayapala born by the Kamboja-Pala kings (mentioned in Irda Copper plates) are also born by Pala emperors of the (so-called) Pala dynasty of Bengal [22],
The Kamboja-Pala king Rajyapala of Irda Copper plate and king Rajyapala (II) of the so-called Pala dynasty belong exactly to the same era and time frame,
Kamboja-Pala king Rajyapala of the Irda Copper plate and king Rajyapala (II) of the so-called Pala dynasty assumed exactly similar imperial titles i.e. Parmeshevara, Paramabhattacharya and Maharajadhiraja ,
Kamboja-Pala king Rajyapala of the Irda Copper plate and Rajyapala (II) of the so-called Pala dynasty have assumed exactly similar religious epithets i.e. Paramasaugata (devotee of the Buddha),
The queen of Kamboja-Pala king Rajyapala of Irda Copper plate is named Bhagyadevi, which very interestingly is also the name born by the queen of the so-called Pala king Rajyapala (II),
The Kamboja-Pala kings of Irda Copper plate as well as the Pala kings of the so-called Pala dynasty use ‘Pala’ as the last part of their names,
The Kamboja-Pala kings of Irda Copper plate as well as the Pala kings of the so-called Pala dynasty are known to have similar religious beliefs,
The script and language of Irda Copper plate and that of the Dinajpur Pillar inscriptions belonging to the Kamboja-Pala dynasty is very identical to that of the numerous charters and grants of the kings of the so-called Pala dynasty of Bengal.
Based on these startling similarities, some scholars have gone to the extent of stating that the Pala dynasty and the Kamboja-Pala Dynasty of Irda Copper plate & Dinajpore Pillar Inscription is one and the same dynasty. But if this is really so, then the inescapable conclusion which must follow is that the unified Kamboja/Pala dynasty of Bengal must belong to the Kamboja lineage.[23][24]
It is very curious to note that whereas the identity of the Kamboja Pala rulers of Bengal has been referred to twice and is indisputably connected to the Kamboja ethnicity, that of the Palas has nowhere been specifically stated in any of the Pala traditions in numerous of their Grants, Charters and Inscriptions (Dr D. C. Sircar). According to Manjuśree Mūlakalpa, Gopala I was a Śudra.[25][26] Balla-Carita says that “The Palas were low-born Ksatriyas”. Tibetan Historian Taranatha Lama, in his “History of Buddhism in India” and Ghanarama, in his “Dharma Mangala”, (both of 16th century), also give the same story.[27][28] Arabic accounts tell us that Palas were not kings of noble origin.[29] According to Abu Fazal (Ain-i-Akbari), Palas were Kayasthas.[30] Khalimpur Plate of Dharmapala, son of Gopala I (the founder of the dynasty), states that Gopala was a son of a warrior (Khanditarat) Vapyata and grandson of a highly educated (Saryavidyavadat) Dayitavishnu.[31] Ramachrita of Sandhyakaranandi attests Pala king Ramapala as a Kshatriya,[32] but in another portion of the same text, Dharmapala is described as Smudrakula-dipa,[33] though, the reason why the origin of the Palas has been ascribed to the Sea (Samudrakula) remains obscure.[34] In the Udaya-sundari-katha, a Champu-Kavya, written by Soddhala in the eleventh century, Pala king Dharmapala is said to have belonged to the family of Mandhata of the Ikshvaku line which is known to belong to solar race.[35][36] It is also stated that they were born of a Ksatriya mother.[37] “All these hear-says practically have no value at all for discussion”.[38]
The Kamauli Copper Plate inscription of king Vaidyadeva of Kamarupa (Assam) [39] indisputably connects the Palas to the Kshatriyas of “Mihirasya vamsa” (Surya lineage).[40]
Since Mihira means Sun or Sun worshipper, the expression Mihirasya implies connected with or relating to the Sun or Sun Worship (Sanskrit Mitra, Persian Mithira == > Mihira = Sun). According to Bhavishya Purana, the Mihira lineage originated from the union of Nishkubha, daughter of Rsi Rijihva and the Sun (Mihira).[41] From this wedlock was born a sage called Zarashata, who apparently is Zoroaster of the Iranian traditions. Mihirasya Vamsa means Mihira Vamsa which is also found written as Mihirkula i.e. lineage of the Sun-worshippers. The reference to Mihirasya vamsa as being the lineage of the Palas of Bengal as attested independently by the Kamauli Grant of king Vaidyadeva of Assam holds a probable clue that the Palas may have come from the Sun-Worshipping lineage i.e. Iranian or Zoroastrian line of the Kambojas.[42][43]
The fact that Gopala I, the founder of the so-called Pala dynasty was a Buddhist and that he has also been branded as a Śudra king [44] may also carry a clue to his connections to the Kamboja lineage since the Kambojas were also predominantly Buddhists in post-Christian times and have also been branded as Vrishalas (degraded Kshatriyas or Śudras) in several Hindu texts like Manu Smriti, Mahabharata, Harivamsha and numerous Puranas.[45] Also the fact that Gopala I’s grandfather was a learned man, his father a warrior, and king Gopala himself was elected to the throne of Bengal, he therefore, was definitely not initially of a distinguished royal blood from the Hindu point of view. Some surmise that he may have been from a Brahmin lineage[46] but since the Palas are called Śudras as well as Ksatriyas, these references qualify them more as the Indo-Iranian Kambojas than of any other lineage. The ancient Indian traditions also incidentally attest the scholarship and learning of the Kambojas who excelled in education and produced many outstanding teachers and sages in ancient and medieval times. Scholars further note that Vapyata, the grand father of Gopala I, had come into east from the north-west Punjab,[47] which if true, definitely means Gandhara/Kamboja region
On the other hand, they may be the Kambojas from north west India from where the Pala used to get their horses, the Tibetans, or the Koca tribe (the related tribe Mleca may be the origin of the term Mleccha). There is also a south Indian reference to a Kamboja king gifting a stone to Rajendra Cola for the Nataraja temple. Other references to Kambojas abound in the ancient literature, and this may have been just the expansion of an Indo-European tribe with both Persian and Indic affinity from their homeland in the Afghanistan-Turkistan (Some relate their name to Cambyses of the Achaemenian empire of early 6th century BC) region along the foothills of the Himalayas towards Bengal, along the coast to Gujarat, to Ceylon, and maybe to Cambodia. Extracted from: “[3]
Dr Debala Mitra:
“A section of the Kambojas, originally living on the north-western frontier of India, most probably in Afghanistan, and belonging to the Parasaka vanna, according to the Buddhaghosa, came and permanently settled in different parts of India. They lent their name to some of the localities occupied by them. A few of the families went to the extent of carving out principalities like the one temporarily eclipsing the fortunes of the Palas of eastern India (Bengal) in the tenth century A.D. …..”.[80]
Dr A. D. Pusalkar:
“It is held by some scholars that the Kambojas were a hill tribe from tribe from Tibet or other regions who had conquered Bengal. But it is more likely that some high official of the Palas belonging to the Kamboja family or tribe took advantage of the weakness of the Pala kings and set up an independent kingdom”.[81]
Dr R. C. Majumdar:
“The Palas employed mercenaries forces, and certainly recruited horses from Kamboja tribe.[82] N. G. Majumdar has very rightly observed that if horses could be brought into Bengal from north-western frontiers of India during Pala period, it is not unreasonable to suppose that for trade and other purposes, some adventurers could also have found their way into that province”.[83] Mercenary soldiers (speciality cavalry) might have been recruited from Kambojas and some of them might have been influential chiefs. It has been suggested that the Kambojas might have come to Bengal with the Pratiharas when the latter conquered part of this province Indian.[84][85][86][87]
Airavat Singh
“Devpala in the 9th Century repeated his father’s feat by leading an army into the Punjab region and further north into the lands of Kamboja (near the Indus). But no territory was gained in this campaign—even the neighboring kingdoms of Kamarupa (Assam) and Utkala (Orissa) were only compelled to render tribute. The two successors of Devapala were more religious-minded and in that period the Pratihars annexed both Magadha and Varendri (Bengal) while Kamarupa and Utkala also resumed independence. To make matters worse feudatories of the Palas also carved out their own states like the Chandras of East Bengal and the Kambojas of Radha—the latter are believed to be descendants of the Kamboja officers and men that had joined the army of Devapala during his campaign in their country near the Indus….”.[88] [4]
Dr. H. C. Ray:
Dr. H. C. Ray writes that Kamboja rulers of Bengal came from Punjab with Gurjara Pratiharas. The Kambojas had joined the forces of Gurjara Pratiharas and there were separate regiments of the Kambojas in the Pratihara army which were entrusted with the defense of north-eastern borders of the Pratihara empire. The Kambojas did not leave the province after the collapse of Pratihara power. They rather took advantage of the weakness of the Pala kings and set up an independent kingdom which was not a difficult task for them[89] Dr H. C. Ray also writes: “I must also admit however, that the Kambojas of Bengal may also have come from north-west as mercenaries and then formed into an independent army under a Kamboja chief by successful rebellion”[90]
Dr H. Chander Raychaudhury:
Dr Hem Chander Raychaudhury also states that the Kambojas came to Bengal with the armies of the Gurjara Pratiharas[91]
Nagendra Nath Vasu”
According to Nagendra Nath Vasu, the Kambojas came to Bengal from Kambey in Gujarat[92]
Dr Jogindra Ghosh:
Dr Jogindra Ghosh also says that the Kamboja rulers of Bengal had come from the Kambey in Gujarat, but curiously he connects the Kamboja rulers of Bengal with the Pratiharas of Gujarat.[93]
Dr J. L. Kamboj:
According to Dr J. L. Kamboj, during second/first centuries BCE, many clans of the Kambojas entered India in alliance the with Sakas, Pahlavas, Yavanas and spread into Sindhu, Saurashtra, Malwa, Rajasthan, Punjab and Surasena.[1] The Kamboh Darwaza in the city of Meerut is named after the Kambojas. An offshoot of these Kambojas moved eastwards and entered Bengal, Bihar and Orissa and in 10th century, they founded a large empire in north-west Bengal.[94]
Dr B. R. Chattetjee:
Interestingly, Dr B. R. Chattetjee supposes that the Kambojas who founded the Kamboja empire in Bengal may have come from the Kambuja of Indo China
The Kambojas (Sanskrit: कम्बोज, Kamboja; Persian: کمبوہ, Kambūh) were a kshatriya tribe of Iron Age India, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature. Modern scholars conclude that the Kambojas were an Avestan speaking Eastern Iranian tribe at the boundary of the Indo-Aryans and the Iranians, and appear to have moved from the Iranian into the Indo-Aryan sphere over time.
The Kambojas migrated into India during the Indo-Scythian invasion from the 2nd century BCE to 5th century CE. Their descendants controlled various principalities in Medieval India.
Das Volk Der Kamboja bei Yaska, First Series of Avesta, Pahlavi and Ancient Persian Studies in honour of the late Shams-ul-ulama Dastur Peshotanji Behramji Sanjana, Strassberg & Leipzig, 1904, pp 213 ff, Ernst Kuhn; The Language of the Kambojas, Journal of Royal Asiatic Society 1911, pp 801-02; Journal of Royal Asiatic Society, 1912, p 256; Purana, Vol V, No 2, July 1963, p 256, D. C. Sircar; Journal Asiatique, CCXLVI 1958, I, pp 47-48, E. Benveniste; Early Eastern Iran and the Atharvaveda, Persica-9, 1980, fn 81, p 114, Michael Witzel; The Afghans (Peoples of Asia), 2001, p 127, also Index, W. J. Vogelsang and Willem Vogelsang; Also Fraser 1979; History of India, Vol. I, R. Thapar 1961/1997: p 276
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kambuja#cite_ref-1
“Kambujiy-a (Cambyses), Kambujiy-ahya (Cambysis), Kambujiy-am (Cambysem), Kabujiy-a (Cambyse). This is the true vernacular orthography of name which was written Cambyses by the Greeks and Kavaus in Zend and which in Arabic and modern Persian has given birth to the forms of Kabus and Kavus or Kaus. From the name of a king of this name was derived the geographical title of Kamboja which retained to this day in the Kambyses was derived the geographical title of Kamboja (Sanskrit), which is retained to present days in the Kamoj of Cafferstan, became also by a regular orthographical procession Kabus, Kabur and Kabul… The Persian historians do not seem to be aware that the name Kabus, which was borne by the Dilemite sovereigns, is the same with the Kaus of Romance; yet the more ancient form of Kaubus or Kabuj for latter name renders the identification also most certain. The Georgians, even to the present day, name the hero of romance Kapus still retaining the labial which has merged in the Persian Kaus… It can be hardly doubted that Zend Avestan alludes to Cambyses the elder, and Cyrus the Great, under the name of Kai-Kaus and Kai Khusro; but the actual forms under which the names are expressed, Kava-Uc and Hucarava, are to be adoptions of the Sassanian age… The native kings of Persis, agreeably to the usual system of oriental nomenclature, appear for several generations to have borne the alternative names of Cyrus and Cambyses. The two immediate ancestors of Cyrus the Great are named Cambyses and Cyrus by Herodotus and according to a doubtful passage of Diodorus Siculus preserved by Photius there was still another Cambyses, the fifth in ascent from the Kambujiya of the Inscriptions (See: Herodotus lib. I. c III and Phot. Bibilioth. p 1158 (Ed. And. Schot.)” (See: Memoir on Cuneiform Inscription, 1849,p 97-98, Cuneiform inscriptions; Also: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, Volume XI, Part 1, 1849, Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson– Re-Published 1990, pp 97-98, Cambridge University, Press for the Royal Asiatic Society [etc.]; See also: Yacna, p 438, sqq., M. Burnouf.
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http://kimhaekims.net/story-a_princess_from_ayodhya.htm
India’s early contacts with Korea date back more than 2000 years. Two thousand years ago, a 16 year old princess from Ayodhya, accompanied by her brother, sailed from India for Korea. We only know her by her Korean name, Huh Wang-Ock. There she wed King Kim Suro, founder of the ancient Korean kingdom of Karack. The King himself received her upon her arrival, and later built a temple at the place where they had first met. She is said to have died at the grand old age of 189. Her story is narrated in the ancient Korean history books, “Samkuksaki” and “Samkukyusa”.
Her tomb is located in Kimhae and there is a stone pagoda in front of the tomb. The pagoda is built with stones, which the princess is said to have brought with her from Ayodhya. They have engravings and red patterns. They are believed to have a mysterious power to calm stormy seas. The Kimhae kingdom’s influence is still felt in modern-day South Korea. Kimhae Kims and Kimhae Huhs trace their origins to this ancient kingdom and Korea’s current President Kim Dae Jung and Prime Minister Jong Pil Kim are Kimhae Kims.
In February, 2000, Kimhae Mayor Song Eun-Bok led a delegation to Ayodhya. The delegation proposed to develop Ayodhya as a sister city of Kimhae and there are plans to set up a memorial for Queen Huh. Note: Ayodhya is the modern Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh. It was the capital of the kingdom of Lord Ram, the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu.
References: Times of India. 15 May 2000, India Abroad 14 May 2000.
In the northern Indian city of Ayodhya, a visiting Korean delegation has inaugurated a memorial to their royal ancestor, Queen Huh. More than a-hundred historians and government representatives, including the North Korean ambassador to India, unveiled the memorial on the west bank of the River Saryu. Korean historians believe that Queen Huh was a princess of an ancient kingdom in Ayodhya. She went to Korea some two-thousand years ago and started the Karak dynasty by marrying a local king, Suro. Today, the historians say, Queen Huh’s descendants number more than six-million, including the South Korean president – Kim Dae Jung. According to a history book written in the 11th century in Korean language, “The History of Three Kingdoms”, the India-Korea relationship started in 48 AD when a princess from Ayodhya, Queen Hur Hwang-ho went to Korea and married King Suro Kim.
The memorial site in Ayodhya has become a place of pilgrimage for members of the clan. While unveiling the monument Bong Ho-Kim, president of the clan society, Republic of Korea had said: “Ayodhya being birthplace of our great Queen Huh, has acquired the status of a place for pilgrimage to over six million descendants.”
(source: South Korea’s Ayodhya connection – timesofindia.com).
According to a history book written in the 11th century in Korean language, “History of Three Kingdoms”, in the year 48 AD, an Indian princess by name Hur Hwang-ho (her Korean name), came to Korea from Ayodhya and married King Kim Suro of the ancient Korean Kingdom of Kaya which is now the Kimhae city. Kimhae City is the birthplace of this kingdom and thus has a historical link with Ayodhya. The clan of Kimhae Kims wants to perpetuate this memory.
(source: Festivities organized to honor Indian princess).
In 48 AD, Queen Suro or Princess Heo Hwang-ok is said to have made a journey from Lord Ram’s birthplace to Korea by sea, carrying a stone which calmed the waters. The stone is not found anywhere in Korea and is now a part of crucial evidence that the princess belonged to the city of Ayodhya in India.
“This stone is only found in India, proof that it came from there to Korea,” said Song Weon Young, city archeologist of Kimhae, a city near the big industrial town of Pusan. People of Kimhae were so fascinated by these links that they started research on it several years ago.
They also ran into a symbol of the Kaya Kingdon with two fish kissing each other, similar to that of the Mishra royal family in Ayodhya. The Princess is said to have given birth to 10 children, which marked the beginning of the powerful dynasty of Kimhae Kims. Kim Dae Jung, a former President also belongs to the same family name.
But even at the centre of these links lies a strong sense of commercial exchange between Korea and India.
The stone represents Kaya’s cultural heritage which did not stay in one place, and the stone indicates that commercial exchange has been on since the Queen came from India.
Thousands of miles away from Ayodhya, the stone is a small piece of history. The people in the city seem quite proud of their links with India, especially because Queen Suro gave rise to the Kim dynasty, a powerful family name in the country.
(source: Carved stones: Historic India-Korea links discovered – ndtv.com).http://kimhaekims.net/story-a_princess_from_ayodhya.htm
South Koreans may have Indian genes – A genetic discovery in South Korea has claimed that Koreans could have an Indian ancestor 2000 years ago. The findings have gained interests in the backdrop of the popular romantic legend of an Indian princess married to a Korean king of the Great Gaya dynasty. According to the legend, the Korean king from Southeast Korea, Kim Su-ro, married an Indian princess, Heo Hwang-ok, from the ancient Indian kingdom of Ayodhya.
The stories say that Heo travelled by ship to Korea. The Great Gaya dynasty ruled Southeast Korea till 562 AD. In fact, Heo is still a common family name in Korea.
The researchers now say that the myth could turn out to be true, according to the daily. More studies are in the offing. The genetic study at Gimhae tomb focused on the mitochondrial DNA in the human remains.
economic times.indiatimes.com).
India–South Korea relations
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India%E2%80%93South_Korea_relations
This cordial relationship between the two countries extends back to 48AD, when Queen Suro, or Princess Heo Hwang-ok, traveled from the kingdom of Ayodhya in North India to Korea.[8] According to the Samguk Yusa, the princess had a dream about a heavenly king who was awaiting heaven’s anointed ride. After Princess Heo had the dream, she asked her parents, the king and queen, for permission to set out and seek the man, which the king and queen urged with the belief that god orchestrated the whole fate.[9] Upon approval, she set out on a boat, carrying gold, silver, a tea plant, and a stone which calmed the waters.[8] Archeologists discovered a stone with two fish kissing each other, a symbol of the Gaya kingdom that is unique to the Mishra royal family in Ayodhya, India. This royal link provides further evidence that there was an active commercial engagements between India and Korea since the queen’s arrival to Korea.[8]
A famous Korean visitor to India was Hyecho, a Korean Buddhist monk from Silla, one the three Korean kingdoms of the period. On the advice of his Indian teachers in China, he set out for India in 723 CE to acquaint himself with the language and culture of the land of the Buddha. He wrote a travelogue of his journey in Chinese, Wang ocheonchukguk jeon or “An account of travel to the five Indian kingdoms”. The work was long thought to be lost. However, a manuscript turned up among the Dunhuang manuscripts during the early 20th century
Kim Suro http://altaic-wiki.wikispaces.com/history+of+korea#Korean history-Proto-Three Kingdoms Period-Gaya (? – 6C) founded Gaya confederacy and Ado Gan is King Suro’s father. Until the founding of Gaya, Byeon Han had been ruled by nine chiefs: Ado Gan, Yeodo Gan, Pido Gan, Odo Gan, Yucheon Gan, Sincheon Gan, Ocheon Gan, Yusu Gan, and Singui Gan.Administrative divisions
Geumgwan Gaya, Dae Gaya, Seongsan Gaya, Ara Gaya, Goryeong Gaya, So Gaya, etc.
Other names
Gara, Garak, Garyang
Byeonhan and Gaya people to Japan http://altaic-wiki.wikispaces.com/Korean+connection+to+Japanese
Byeonhan was located closest to Kyushu Japan. Originally Byeonhan was part of Mahan, and it was separated becoming Byeonhan and developing into Gaya. Ancient sites similar to Yayoi were found from Byeonhan and Kyushu area. People in Byeonhan area moved to Japan and they are known as Yayoi people in Japan. In the area of Byeonhan, ancient sites similar to Yayoi were found. Byeonhan became Gaya, but Gaya was a small country between Baekje and Silla. Gaya was constantly threathened by them. So they went oversea to find allies. Gaya-Japan ally confronted against Silla. Gaya was the main factory of steel in Korean penninsular. Lots of steel weapons and armors were excavated in Gaya. Gaya steel armors were found in Japan showing that they migrated to Japan later. Gaya was obsorbed by Silla, and some of them may have escaped to Japan.
Byeonhan was located closest to Kyushu Japan. Originally Byeonhan was part of Mahan, and it was separated becoming Byeonhan and developing into Gaya. Ancient sites similar to Yayoi were found from Byeonhan and Kyushu area. People in Byeonhan area moved to Japan and they are known as Yayoi people in Japan. In the area of Byeonhan, ancient sites similar to Yayoi were found. Byeonhan became Gaya, but Gaya was a small country between Baekje and Silla. Gaya was constantly threathened by them. So they went oversea to find allies. Gaya-Japan ally confronted against Silla. Gaya was the main factory of steel in Korean penninsular. Lots of steel weapons and armors were excavated in Gaya. Gaya steel armors were found in Japan showing that they migrated to Japan later. Gaya was obsorbed by Silla, and some of them may have escaped to Japan.
Miyasita record(富士宮下 文書) explains that Gaya people governed Japan for a thousand years before Yamato era. People of Gaya built U Gaya kingdom in Japan, and it was destroyed by Yamato
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Kayasthas http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080313215631AApwmac
[also Kulin Kayasthas http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kulin_Kayastha%5D
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kayastha (also referred to as Kayasth or Kayeth) is a caste or community of Hindus originating in India. Kayastha means “scribe” in Sanskrit, reflecting the caste’s traditional role as record-keepers and administrators of the state.[1] Kayasthas have historically occupied the highest government offices, serving as ministers and advisors during early medieval Indian kingdoms and the Mughal Empire…
According to the Hindu scriptures known as the Puranas, Kayasthas are descended from Chitragupta Maharaj, the deity responsible for recording the deeds of humanity, upholding the rule of law and judging whether human beings go to heaven or hell upon death
THE FIRST THEORY – MYTHOLOGICAL & MOST ACCEPTED
The first theory is the orthodox one, and is hitherto accepted generally by all castes and communities in India, based as it is on the authority of no less than four Puranas —viz. Padma Puran (Srishti Khand,Patal Khand and Uttar Khand), Bhavishya Purana, Yama Samhita, Mahabharata and Brihad Parashar Smriti.
It is said that Brahma, the Creator, having established the four varnas — Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra — ordained Dharamraj ( also called Yamraj, the god of death) to keep record of the deeds — good and evil — of all life-forms born and yet to be born on the earth, in the heavens above and in the lands below. Dharamraj, however, complained, “O Lord, how can I alone keep record of the deeds of the beings born into 84 lakh yonis (life-forms) in the three worlds?”
Brahma then closed his eyes, meditated for a while and lo and behold! there appeared a radiant figure with a quill-pen in one hand and an ink-pot in another. Brahma named him Chittagupta for he was conceived in his cognitive-self (chitta) and he was lying in Him, dormant and secret (gupta). He was born of Brahma’s body (kaya) and so the Lord decreed that his progenies be called Kayasthas. He was assigned to work as a minister, to write and record for Dharamraj. Thus, the fifth varna, the Kayastha, came into existence.
According to this the word Kayastha only meant residents of Kaya-desh or Madhya-desh, which was synonym to Ayodhia.
On this view it is possible to hazard a guess that the class or community of Kayasthas may have come into existence by the formation of something like a guild of all those people who, although drawn from educated members of more than one Dwij varanas, (viz. Brahmans, Kshattriyas and even possibly Vaishyas), took to and adopted government service or administration as their hereditary profession or calling from the earliest times in Hindu history.
Ayodhya pronunciation (help·info) (Sanskrit: अयोध्या, Urdu: ایودھیا, IAST Ayodhyā), also known as Saket (Sanskrit: साकेत, Urdu: ساکیت ) is an ancient city of India, birthplace of the Hindu avatar Rama, and setting of the epic Ramayana. It is located adjacent to the Faizabad district of in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, with which it has merged because of rapid settlement. Ayodhya used to be the capital of the ancient Kosala Kingdom, and has an average elevation of 93 meters (305 feet).
King Ayudh is mentioned in Hindu scriptures as a forefather of Lord Rama. His name comes from the Sanskrit root yudh, meaning “fight” or “wage war,” and it translates to either “not to be fought” or, less literally, “unconquerable.” During the time of Gautama Buddha, the city was called Ayojjhā in Pali, and Ayodhyā in Sanskrit, although though this city in scripture has also been said to be on the River Ganges.[7]
In the first centuries of the common era, it was called Saketa. Śāketa or 沙奇 (Pinyin: Shāqí) was conquered by the Kushan/Yuezhi Emperor Kanishka c. 127 CE, who made it administrative center of his eastern territories.[8][9] The name occurs again in Faxian as 沙祗 (Pinyin: Shāzhī) in the early 5th century. It is not clear when the name changed, but by the time of the visit of the Chinese pilgrim monk, Xuanzang, c. 636 CE, it was known as Ayodhya.
Ayodhya is located on the right bank of the river Saryu, 6 km from Faizaba. This town is closely associated with Rama, seventh incarnation of Vishnu. According to the Ramayana, the city is 9,000 years old, and was founded by Manu, the first man in the Vedas, and law-giver of the Hindus. Other sources hold that it was founded by its namesake, King Ayudh. For centuries, it was the capital for the Surya dynasty, of which Lord Rama was the most celebrated king. At the time it was known as Kaushaldesa.
Skanda and other puranas list Ayodhya as one of the seven most sacred cities of India, as it has been the backdrop for much of Hindu scripture. Today it is predominantly a religious destination with its historical significance and sacred temples. The Atharvaveda described Ayodhya as “a city built by Gods and being prosperous as paradise itself.”
Its first ruling king was Ikshvaku, of the solar clan Suryavansa and eldest son of Vaivasvata Manu. The sixth king of this line, Prithu, is linguistically the etymology of earth, or `Prithivi’. Mandhatri was a later king of the region, and the 31st king of his descent was Harischandra, known for his truthfulness, or Sathya-sandhata. His lineage was Surya Vamsa and, in turn known for their honesty as rulers.
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Kayasths were scribes, administrators, writers, magistrates, judges. lawyers, chief executive officers and village accountants in ancient South Asia. Kayasthas celebrate: Qalam and Dawaat (pen and ink-pot) worship, a Hindu ritual in which pens, papers and books were worshipped. This clearly shows that they were clerks and official record keepers of the kings. Kayasthas were valued in the second millennia by most kingdoms and princely states as desired citizens or immigrants within South Asia. They were treated more as a community rather than a Hindu caste because they developed expertise in Persian (the state language in Islamic India), learnt Turkish and Arabic, economics, administration and taxation.
The five Brahmin clans were each designated as Kulina (“superior”) in order to differentiate them from the more established local Brahmins. Four of the Kayastha clans were similarly designated. The fifth was refused the status because they would not accept that they were servants, as was the ritual rank of Shudra, and instead proclaimed themselves to be superior even to the Brahmins. While this fifth clan remained in Bengal and became the Datta (or Dutt) Kayasthas, one of the four which were granted the Kulina nomenclature – the Guhas – later moved to the east of the region, leaving three clans to become the main Kulin Kayastha communities: the Boses, the Mitras and the Ghoshes.[3]
Mitra (Proto-Indo-Iranian, nominative *Mitras) was an important Indo-Iranian divinity. Following the prehistoric cultural split of Indo-Aryan and Iranian cultures, names descended from *mitra were used for the following religious entities:
Mitra (Vedic) (Sanskrit Mitrá-, Mitráḥ), a deity who appears frequently in the ancient Sanskrit text of the Rigveda
Mithra (Avestan Miθra-, Miθrō), a yazata mentioned in the Zoroastrian sacred scripture of the Avesta, whose New Persian equivalent is Mīhr / Mehr (مِهر)
Maitreya, a bodhisattva who in the Buddhist tradition is to appear on Earth, achieve complete enlightenment, and teach the pure Dharma
Mithras, the principal figure of the Greco-Roman religion of Mithraism
Mitra (surname), an Indian family name and surname found mostly amongst Punjabi’s
Contents [hide]
1 Etymology
2 Indic Mitra
3 Iranian Mithra
4 Mithra in Commagene
5 Buddhist Maitreya
6 Graeco-Roman Mithras
7 References
[edit]Etymology
Both Vedic Mitra and Avestan Mithra derive from an Indo-Iranian common noun *mitra-, generally reconstructed to have meant “covenant, treaty, agreement, promise.” This meaning is preserved in Avestan miθra “covenant.” In Sanskrit and modern Indo-Aryan languages, mitra means “friend,” one of the aspects of binding[disambiguation needed] and alliance
The Indo-Iranian reconstruction is attributed[1] to Christian Bartholomae,[2] and was subsequently refined by A. Meillet (1907), who suggested derivation from the Proto-Indo-European root *mei “to exchange.”
A suggested alternative derivation was *meh “to measure” (Gray 1929). Pokorny (IEW 1959) refined Meillet’s *mei as “to bind.” Combining the root *mei with the “tool suffix” -tra- “that which [causes] …” (also found in man-tra-, “that which causes to think”), then literally means “that which binds,” and thus “covenant, treaty, agreement, promise, oath” etc. Pokorny’s interpretation also supports “to fasten, strengthen”, which may be found in Latin moenia “city wall, fortification”, and in an antonymic form, Old English (ge)maere “border, boundary-post”.
Meillet and Pokorny’s “contract” did however have its detractors. Lentz (1964, 1970) refused to accept abstract “contract” for so exalted a divinity and preferred the more religious “piety.” Because present-day Sanskrit mitra means “friend,” and New Persian mihr means “love” or “friendship,” Gonda (1972, 1973) insisted on a Vedic meaning of “friend, friendship,” not “contract”.
Meillet’s analysis also “rectified earlier interpretations”[1] that suggested that the Indo-Iranian common noun *mitra- had anything to do with the light or the sun. When H. Lommel suggested[3] that such an association was implied in the Younger Avesta (>6th c. BCE), that too was conclusively dismissed.[4] Today, it is certain that “(al)though Miθra is closely associated with the sun in the Avesta, he is not the sun” and “Vedic Mitra is not either.”[1]
Old Persian Mitra or Miθra – both only attested in a handful of 4th century BCE inscriptions of Artaxerxes II and III – “is generally admitted [to be] a borrowing from the Avesta,”[5] the genuine Old Persian form being reconstructed as *Miça. (Kent initially suggested Sanskrit[6] but later[5] changed his mind). Middle Iranian myhr (Parthian, also in living Armenian usage) and mihr (Middle Persian), derive from Avestan Mithra.
Greek/Latin “Mithras,” the focal deity of the Greco-Roman cult of Mithraism is the nominative form of vocative Mithra. In contrast to the original Avestan meaning of “contract” or “covenant” (and still evident in post-Sassanid Middle Persian texts), the Greco-Roman Mithraists probably thought the name meant “mediator.” In Plutarch’s first century discussion of dualistic theologies, Isis and Osiris (46.7) the Greek historiographer provides the following explanation of the name in his summary of the Zoroastrian religion: Mithra is a meson (“in the middle”) between “the good Horomazdes and the evil Aremanius […] and this is why the Pérsai call the Mediator Mithra”. Zaehner[7] attributes this false etymology to a role that Mithra (and the sun!) played in the now extinct branch of Zoroastrianism known as Zurvanism.
Indic Mitra http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitra
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitra
Maitreya is sometimes represented seated on a throne Western-style, and venerated both in Mahāyāna and non-Mahāyāna Buddhism. Some have speculated that inspiration for Maitreya may have come from the ancient Indo-Iranian deity Mithra. The primary comparison between the two characters appears to be the similarity of their names. According to a book entitled The Religion of the Iranian Peoples, “No one who has studied the Zoroastrian doctrine of the Saoshyants or the coming saviour-prophets can fail to see their resemblance to the future Maitreya.[16]
Paul Williams claims that some Zoroastrian ideas like Saoshyant influenced the beliefs about Maitreya, such as “expectations of a heavenly helper, the need to opt for positive righteousness, the future millennium, and universal salvation”. Possible objections are that these characteristics are not unique to Zoroastrianism, nor are they necessarily characteristic of the belief in Maitreya
: Mitra (Vedic)
Vedic Mitra is a prominent deity of the Rigveda distinguished by a relationship to Varuna, the protector of rta. Together with Varuna, he counted among the Adityas, a group of solar deities, also in later Vedic texts. Vedic Mitra is the patron divinity of honesty, friendship, contracts and meetings.
The first extant record of Indo-Aryan[8] Mitra, in the form mi-it-ra-, is in the inscribed peace treaty of c. 1400 BC between Hittites and the Hurrian kingdom of the Mitanni in the area southeast of Lake Van in Asia Minor. There Mitra appears together with four other Indo-Aryan divinities as witnesses and keepers of the pact.
[edit]Iranian Mithra
Main article: Mithra
In Zoroastrianism, Mithra is a member of the trinity of ahuras, protectors of asha/arta, “truth” or “[that which is] right”. Mithra’s standard appellation is “of wide pastures” suggesting omnipresence. Mithra is “truth-speaking, … with a thousand ears, … with ten thousand eyes, high, with full knowledge, strong, sleepless, and ever awake.” (Yasht 10.7). As preserver of covenants, Mithra is also protector and keeper of all aspects of interpersonal relationships, such as friendship and love.
Related to his position as protector of truth, Mithra is a judge (ratu), ensuring that individuals who break promises or are not righteous (artavan) are not admitted to paradise. As also in Indo-Iranian tradition, Mithra is associated with (the divinity of) the sun but originally distinct from it. Mithra is closely associated with the feminine yazata Aredvi Sura Anahita, the hypostasis of knowledge.
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http://www.korea.net/kois/pds/jobpds/essay_2000_0301.html
“The ancient cultures of our countries were in touch with each other as early as 1st century AD. In fact, legend has it that they began when a 16 year old princess from Ayodhya in India, named Hwang-Ok sailed across the tumultuous waters , carrying a pasa stone pagoda in a ship with red sails to arrive at Korea to marry King Kim Suro Why else would generations of sailors chip away tiny pieces of the pagoda to carry with them as talismans on their voyages?
Another legend is the story of how 57,000 pounds of yellow iron and 30,000 pounds of gold came all the way from King Ashoka in India to King Chinhung in Korea who molded them into the beautiful image of the Buddha.
Thus India’s first exports to the land of morning calm were not grains or seeds but a cultural package called Buddhism. Indian monks travelling to Korea to spread Buddha’s gospel and Korean monks making the assiduous pilgrimage to Buddha’s birthplace were active agents in this cultural collaboration. Foremost among these was Hyecho whose “Record of a Journey to the Five Indian Kingdoms” is an invaluable historical document. Needles to say, the Korean vocabulary absorbed many Sanskrit words and concepts. Words include ‘Narak’, ‘Bhikuni’ and ‘Stupa’. ‘Brahma’, ‘Indra’, ‘Nidana’ etc. number among the concepts. ”
http://www.korea.net/kois/pds/jobpds/essay_2000_0301.htm
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Ayodhya has a link, dating more than 2,000 years back, with South Korea!
Legend goes that Queen Huh, wife of King Suro who was the founder of Karak kingdom in Korea, was born in Ayodhya. Her father, the then king of Ayodhya, was advised in a dream by supernatural powers that he should marry off his daughter to the Korean king. Subsequently, she was sent there in the middle of the first century AD. In fact, a plaque inscribed at Huh’s monument at the banks of river Saryu narrates this story.
The legend is part of South Korean history and came out in 2001, when the mayors of Ayodhya and Kim-Hae town of South Korea signed a “sister city bond” to commemorate their historical ties. The three-metre-high stone monument weighs more than 7,500 kg. Stone for the monument was brought in from South Korea and it was built according to Korean traditions.
“It is believed that an Indian princess Suriratna from Ayodhya came to Korea in 48AD, married King Kim Suro and became Queen Huh Hwang-ok. Millions of Koreans trace their lineage to this union.” – a speech by Ambassador Vishnu Prakash, Sept 2012 “Strategic Partners: Growing synergies between India and Korea”
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INDIAN PRINCESS HEO HWANG OCK WEDS KOREAN KING KIM SOO-RO
http://ajitvadakayil.blogspot.jp/2012/07/korean-brahmins-kim-hae-clan-capt-ajit.html
When Heo arrived at Korea in 49 CE , along with her brother , Kim personally received here– all 7 feet of him. He was struck by her great beauty and charm. She was what he had dreamt of . He named her yellow jade in Korean.
He had resisted marrying any local girl , constantly repeating that God would take care of this. Both Heo and Kim dreamt of this divine union. Her conservative father consulted astrologers and let her go to a distant land, with her brother as guard.
Kim built a temple at the place where they had first met. She is said to have died at the grand old age of 159. Her story is narrated in the ancient Korean history books, “Samkuksaki” and “Samkukyusa”.
The pagoda is also called Chimpungtap (Wind Calming Pagoda). She also carried a potted plant of tea. This is the legend of Korean tea.
A pagoda of a right handed Swastika depicted as fish, to appease the ocean god Varuna during the dangerous voyage to Korea can be seen thereMembers of both the Heo lineages (including the clans of Gimhae, Hayang, Taein, and Yangcheon (Gongam) and the Gimhae Kim lineage consider themselves descendants of Heo Hwang-ok and King Suro. Her descendants prospered and became the largest clan in Korea, the Karak, known for their intellect and character. President of South Korea, Kim Dae-Jung is an examples.
Members of both the Heo lineages (including the clans of Gimhae, Hayang, Taein, and Yangcheon (Gongam) and the Gimhae Kim lineage consider themselves descendants of Heo Hwang-ok and King Suro. Heo’s tomb lies with Kim’s at Gimhae, South Korea
Heo loved by one and all , bore Kim 10 handsome sons. Two of them chose the mother’s name and the Heo clan trace their origins to this.
The Gimhae Kims trace their origin to the other eight sons. There are 9 million of this Karak dynasty –Kim Kimhae clan and Heo Gimhae clan
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2000-yr-old link ties Ayodhya, Korea
24/10/2010 15:00:45 Rahul Datta | New Delhi – Daily Pioneer http://www.haindavakeralam.com/HKPage.aspx?PageID=12431
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On the Trail of 2 Lost Kingdoms http://kimhaekims.net/On%20the%20Trail%20of%202%20Lost%20Kingdoms.htm
> Yes, the connection between Korea(Gaya) and India in the 1st century
> CE is one of the historical mysteries.
Buddhism: The Bridge Between Korea and India
By Santosh Kumar Gupta
In the relationship between Korea and India, whenever we think of our
ancestors a clear cut Buddhist influence emerges. Some scholars have
recently suggested the origins of a link between Korea and India and
their research is worthy of consideration. Buddhism is the bridge that
used to link these two nations, promoting the exchange of ideas and
traditions.
It took many centuries for Buddhism to grow and spread, but it has
played a pivotal role in the region. After its entry into Korea,
Buddhism found wide acceptance, being embraced by a large number of
people. Now this common heritage can offer the means of attaining a
cultural understanding between India and Korea.
While Buddhism was officially introduced into Korea in A.D. 372
through China, there are wide-ranging scholarly debates over the
chronology and method of its introduction. Many scholars assert that
Buddhism came to Korea directly from India, while another group
asserts that Buddhism came to Korea through central Asia.
One line of argument says that Princess Ho of Ayodhya married King
Suro of Korea. He founded the Kaya Dynasty in the 1st century A.D.
According to Samgukyusa (a historical book of the Three Kingdoms),
after arriving on Korean soil, Princess Ho said, “I am a princess of
Ayuta of India. My parents had a dream in which they saw that the holy
King Suro of Karak was not yet married, so they sent me to become your
queen. Thus, I started on my long voyage.” After King Suro married
the princess of India, the royal couple had a son and lived happily
for many years.
The matrimonial alliance of Suro and Ho resembled the confluence of
two harmonious beings _ heaven and earth, the sun and the moon. The
name Suro is very similar to “sura,” a religious drink of ancient
India. It is also used as a “suravira” in ancient Indian History.
Numerous elements in this legendary saga indicate the deep
relationship between two. Suro is supposed to have said, “A heavenly
god commanded me to descend to earth, establish a kingdom and become
its king.” Here Suro sought to legitimize his rein, a method common
among Indian kings for consolidating their authority.
The story of Ho demonstrates the manner in which Buddhism spread.
According to the historical records, Princess Ho brought a pagoda and
Buddha statue along with her. It is also mentioned that her servants
and attendants were with her.
A recent genetic discovery made by Korean scientists establishes a
relationship between India and Korea. It is further corroborated by
DNA evidence. It is a matter of pleasure and pride that many centuries
ago an Indian Princess was married to a Korean king. This matrimonial
alliance between the two was perhaps the foundation of interaction
between Korea and India.
Buddhism assimilated with the indigenous culture, emerged as the
national religion of Korea, penetrating to the nation’s core.
Many Buddhist monks worked to shape the religion, a major early figure
being Marananta, who came to Paekje in the 4th century A.D. However,
it is the Samguksagi is not clear on how an Indian monk came to
receive a warm welcome from the king. In A.D. 574 three Indian monks
came to the peninsula with a Korean monk, Anhong, and initiated the
construction of many monasteries and temples.
According to one story, King Ayuk (Muwa), identified with Ashoka
Maurya of India, sent iron and gold to Korea to cast the image of the
Buddha. Koreans used the metals to construct the monastery. However,
the historical records show the Ashokan period was much earlier than
the construction of the Hwangnyong Monastery.
After the introduction of Buddhism to Korea, many scholars and monks
exhibited great enthusiasm for visiting India to learn more about
Buddhism or for pilgrimages to places important to the memory of the
Buddha. Some Korean monks set out for India in the early 6th century
A.D.
The monk Kyomic was the first to visit India. He studied the Vinaya
text, first going to the Samghana Temple of central India where he
collected the Sanskrit text of the Mahisasaka Vinaya. Later an Indian
monk, Devadatta (Pei-da-duo) ,came to Korea with Kyomic where he
translated 72 books of the Vinaya under the patronage of the King Song
of Paekje.
From the early 8th century onwards, Korean Buddhists showed a keen
interest in India and Indian culture. The cultural bridge between the
two countries grew from then onwards, Buddhist monks being credited
for nurturing the relationship. Biographies of eminent monks of the
Tang Dynasty in China recorded the brief histories of some 56 pilgrims
who went to India. Among these was a Korean monk, A–nan-ya-bal-ma, who
stayed at the Nalanda Monastery, possibly, even dying there. Another
monk, Hye-op, also stayed in the Nalanda Monastery. One famous monk,
Hyon-t’ae, (Sarvajnadeva) went to India via China, Tibet and Nepal. He
went to Bodhgaya in Bihar and stayed near the Bodhi tree where the
Buddha is said to have achieved enlightenment. In addition, Hyon-gaki
(Parampujya) and Hsuan-chao also visited the Mahabodhi Monastery of
Bihar.
Hyeryun, or Prajnavarman, spent ten years in the Amaravati Monastery
studying Dharma. Going further east, he visited the nearby Tukhara
Samgharama situated in northern India. Tukhara was an important
location for Buddhist monks of Central Asia, China, Korea and India.
Hyeryun studied Sanskrit in this monastery, becoming a famous monk in
Korea. Buddhism was thus the vehicle for monks of both nations for
promoting cultural ties.
Taebom and Hyech’o were another two monks who returned to China after
visiting India, making major contributions to the development of
Buddhism there. Hyech’o first traveled to the Nicobar Islands in the
Bay of Bengal before moving on to eastern India. He visited many
places in India, including Nalanda, Bodhgaya, Kusinagar, to show his
respect for the Buddha. In the 8th century A.D. he returned to China
via Samarkant, Turkestan and Kucha. He studied esoteric Buddhism under
the guidance of the famous master Vajra-bodhi of India.
At that time Buddhism flourished all over Korea, receiving the
patronage of the state. The saga of Indo-Korean contacts commenced at
the beginning of the Christian era and attained maturity during the
11th and 12th centuries A.D.
In a world of malice and distrust, with many nations unprepared to
accept the mere existence of another, these two Asian nations should
work for mutual understanding to further cooperation by drawing on
deep cultural roots. We can draw our inspiration and strength from
Buddhism.
URL: http://times.hankooki.com/cgi-bin/hkiprn.cgi?pa=/lpage/nation/
200410/kt2004100518562811950.htm&ur=times.hankooki.com&fo=print_kt.htm
:::
India: The Origin of Korea?http://www.rjkoehler.com/2010/02/26/india-the-origin-of-korea/
Posted on February 26, 2010 by robert neff
King Suro’s Tomb – Wikipedia Picture
I realize that we have talked about Korea’s racial purity before when I blogged about the Vietnam connection but this time I thought we could look at the Indian connection. Archeologist and Professor Emeritus of Hanyang University, Kim Byong-mo, seems to be one of the sources for the resurgence of Korean-Indian brotherhood. He recently announced while visiting India:
“I share my genes with the royal family of Ayodhya. Travellers from both these countries not just traded goods, but also genes. And I hail from the Kara (Kaya) dynasty, whose first woman was the princess of Ayodhya, who married the first Kara king. Her brothers went on to become the Kings of Ayodhya and this is how I am genetically connected to the holy city…The queen of Korea’s biggest dynasty Hoh was the daughter of Ayodhya and in that manner, Ayodhya is like our mother city. Princess Ho travelled by sea route and married King Kim Suro of Kara dynasty. He was the first king and the entire Kara clan, which comprises over about two-third the population of Korea are its descendents.”
And who are some of these descendants?
Naturally the Kim family – specifically the Gimhae Kims and the Heo family such as the former Prime Minister of South Korea Heo Jeong(Korean link), Heo Young-saeng of the Korean boy band SS501 (don’t hate me I am only linking).
The more famous and powerful Kims are – Kim Jong-pil (OutlookIndia) is reported to have written a letter to Bimlendra Mohan Mishra, a member of the Ayodhya ruling family describing his visit to India in March 2001 as being “very meaningful” and fulfilled his desire to visit Ayodhya and claimed that he was the 72nd generation descendant of the King Kim Suro or the Karak Kingdom.” Kim Dae-jung was also of the same clan so that means he too would have been related to the princess.
Korea’s First Lady, Kim Yoon-ok, also claims to be a descendant of Heo Hwang-ok, a princess from an ancient kingdom in Ayodhya, India.
“Heo arrived on a boat and married King Suro of Korea’s Gaya Kingdom in A.D. 48, according to Samguk Yusa, an 11th-century collection of legends and stories. The chronicle says Princess Heo had a dream about a handsome king from a far away land. After the dream, Heo asked her royal parents for permission to set out on an adventure to find the man of her fate. The ancient book indicates that she sailed to the Korean Peninsula, carrying a stone, with which she claimed to have calmed the waters. Archeologists discovered a stone with two fish kissing each other in Korea, which is a unique cultural heritage linked to a royal family in Ayodhya. The stone is evidence that there were active commercial exchanges between the two sides after the princess’s arrival here.
The princess is said to have given birth to 10 children, which marked the beginning of the powerful dynasty of Gimhae Kims. Members of both the Heo and Gimhae Kim lineages consider themselves descendants of Heo Hwang-ok and King Suro. Two of the couple’s 10 sons chose the mother’s name. The Heo clans trace their origins to them, and regard Heo as the founder of their lines. The Gimhae Kims trace their origin to the eight other sons.”
Korea’s Mecca?
Prof. Kim in 1997 informed the local Indian government in Ayodhya of the Korean-Indian connection and had work started on a statue or memorial to celebrate it (I could not find a picture of this monument anywhere). Bimlendra Mohan Mishra, a member of the Ayodhya ruling family said, “the Korean connection came as a major surprise to us. I expect the memorial to Queen Huh, now being built here in Ayodhya, to become a major pilgrim centre for Koreans.” In 2004, when the memorial was unveiled, Prof. Kim echoed Mishra’s sentiments when he said, “Ayodhya being birthplace of our great Queen Huh, has acquired the status of a place for pilgrimage to over six million descendants.”
The Appeal: Fact or Fiction
Not sure of how much of Mecca it has become for Koreans but the story is certainly one that appeals to many people. Former Indian Ambassador to Korea, N. Partharsarathi, wrote a fictional account of the mixed royal couple in 2007. The present Indian Ambassador, Skand Tayal, is also quick to note the ancient connection between the two countries. According to JoongAng Daily’s interview with the former ambassador:
In recounting the story in person, as he does in his book, the ambassador slips easily between historical evidence and the legends that pervade the era. “It was a time when gods used to appear and lots of things happened,” he said. “What’s more important than what is reality is what could be.”
In building the case for the historical side of the book, Parthasarathi pointed to several “puzzle pieces” that suggest the connection between India and Korea. He spoke of the venerated monk Jangyoohwasang, supposedly the brother of the princess, and Chilbul Temple, or “The Temple of the Seven Buddhas,” said to have been constructed by King Su-ro in celebration of his seven Buddhist monk sons reaching Nirvana. To Parthasarathi, these are pieces of evidence indicating that Buddhism reached Korea far earlier than many believe, as the Gaya Kingdom existed around the turn of the last millennium. Current thinking goes that Buddhism came here from China in the fourth century A.D.
“It’s reasonable to assume Buddhism was here earlier,” said the ambassador.
The second puzzle piece is the name of the kingdom itself. “Why should the kingdom’s name be Gaya? The most famous place where Buddha was enlightened in India was Gaya,” he said. “I’m not saying that there is a link, but it could be there.”
But how much of this story is true? Sarah M. Nelson, author of The Archaelogy of Korea(1993), said “Most scholars decline to take the [story of the] Indian princess literally.” A poster on this board (half way down) suggested that the princess may have been from Thailand citing the old name for Siam’s capital as being very similar to Ayodhya.
But according to a JoongAng article (that I can not actually find but have seen copied everywhere including this large pdf file, and these -here and here and here- boards) in 2004 DNA samples taken from Kaya tombs in southern Korea indicated a link between Korea and India. This Buddhist site claims that Princess Heo was responsible for the introduction of Buddhism, at least to the people of Kaya.
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outh Koreans may have Indian genes http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2004-08-21/news/27407178_1_south-koreans-joong-ang-daily-korean-king
Shantanu Nandan Sharma, TNN Aug 21, 2004, 11.51pm IST
SEOUL: A genetic discovery in South Korea has claimed that Koreans could have an Indian ancestor 2000 years ago.
As was reported by leading South Korean newspaper Joong Ang Daily on Friday, researchers in an archaeological survey at ancient royal tomb of Gimhae in South Gyeongsang province, found some evidence to support claims that Koreans have DNA traceable to South or South East Asian ethnic groups like Indian, Malaysian or Thai.
Dr Seo Jeong-sun of Seoul National University and Kim Jong-il of Hallym University conducted the research and decoded the entire genetic code of ancient Korean remains. They have recently presented their findings at a meeting of the Korea Genome Organisation in Chuncheon, Gangwong province.
The findings have gained interests in the backdrop of the popular romantic legend of an Indian princess married to a Korean king of the Great Gaya dynasty. According to the legend, the Korean king from Southeast Korea, Kim Su-ro, married an Indian princess, Heo Hwang-ok, from the ancient Indian kingdom of Ayodhya.
The stories say that Heo travelled by ship to Korea. The Great Gaya dynasty ruled Southeast Korea till 562 AD. In fact, Heo is still a common family name in Korea.
The researchers now say that the myth could turn out to be true, according to the daily. More studies are in the offing. The genetic study at Gimhae tomb focused on the mitochondrial DNA in the human remains.
Mitochondria are cellular components that are the source of power for animal and human cells and have DNA which is passed to succeeding generations through the material line. This transmission makes such DNA valuable in studying family evolution.
In fact, it has always been assumed that Koreans are an ethnically homogeneous group that originated in Mongolia. The daily quoted Dr Kim as saying, “More studies need to be done. But this discovery could be the beginning of identifying the Korean race.”
:::
http://blog.korea.net/?p=6640
the legendary story of “Ayodhya princess and the Korean King Suro of Korea”. The legend of the Indian princess is narrated in Samguk Yusa, a Korean text written by a monk, Iryon (1206 AD-1289 AD). It is set in the Kaya kingdom in the first century CE
Kim Suro’s Tomb
The rationale for a close relationship between India and South Korea has been reinforced in modern times by political and economic imperatives.
Gimhae, the city where the Indian princess from Ayodhya landed and married Kim Su-ro, signed an MOU establishing a sister-city relationship with Faizabad-Ayodhya. A monument in memory of the princess was erected in March 2001 at a site donated by the Ayodhya administration.
Busan and Mumbai signed an MOU on mutual cooperation in 1977. Gyeonggi Province signed an MOU for mutual benefit with the State Government of Maharashtra in March 2007. Seoul has a sister-city relationship with Mumbai and has expressed interest in establishing a sister-city relationship with Delhi. And twinning between Pocheon & Jaipur and Incheon & Kolkata is at an advanced stage.
:::
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/korean-relative-of-kings-of-ayodhya-goes-on-evidence-hunting/569976/0
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/korean-relative-of-kings-of-ayodhya-goes-on-evidence-hunting/569976
Korean relative of Kings of Ayodhya goes on evidence hunting
A Professor Emeritus of Hanyang University and national archeologist from Korea, Prof Byung Mo Kim shares a ‘genetic connection’ with Ayodhya.
“I share my genes with the royal family of Ayodhya. Travellers from both these countries not just traded goods, but also genes. And I hail from the Kara dynasty, whose first woman was the princess of Ayodhya, who married the first Kara king. Her brothers went on to become the Kings of Ayodhya and this is how I am genetically connected to the holy city,” said Prof Kim.
The archaeologist, whose work on the princess of Ayodhya marrying the prince of Korea’s Kara dynasty in 4th century AD has received widespread recognition, is on his fifth visit to the Holy city in search of more evidence for his study.
On his three-day visit to the state, he not only visited Ayodhya but also made a slide presentation on historical evidences of cultural links between Ayodhya and Korea, on being invited by the state government’s Ayodhya Shodh Sansthan. “The queen of Korea’s biggest dynasty Hoh was the daughter of Ayodhya and in that manner, Ayodhya is like our mother city. Princess Ho travelled by sea route and married King Kim Suro of Kara dynasty. He was the first king and the entire Kara clan, which comprises over about two-third the population of Korea are its descendents,” said Prof Kim.
The twin fish, which is the state symbol of Uttar Pradesh and is found on almost all the ancient buildings of Ayodhya, is the biggest clue to the link and the route undertaken by Princess Hoh, says the professor. “I have pictorial evidences. The twin fish symbol is originally from the Meditarrenean states and it travelled to this part of the world and settled around Lucknow. But the same twin fish symbol can also be seen in ancient buildings in Nepal, Pakistan, China and Japan and the gate of royal tomb of King Suro in Kimhae city in Korea,” said Prof Kim.
But, it is not this connection alone that has brought the archaeologist here as he also seeks a cultural connect between Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh and Kimhae city in Korea.
:::http://genome.cshlp.org/content/9/8/711.full
Negligible Male Gene Flow Across Ethnic Boundaries in India, Revealed by Analysis of Y-Chromosomal DNA Polymorphisms
Nitai Pada Bhattacharyya1
http://genome.cshlp.org/content/9/8/711.full
Eight Y-chromosomal markers, two biallelic and six microsatellite, were studied. All populations were monomorphic for the deletion allele at the YAP (DYS287) locus and for the 119-bp allele at the DYS288 locus. Y-chromosomal haplotypes were constructed on the basis of one RFLP locus and five microsatellite loci. The haplotype distribution among the groups showed that different ethnic groups harbor nearly disjoint sets of haplotypes. This indicates that there has been virtually no male gene flow among ethnic groups. Analysis of molecular variance revealed that there was significant haplotypic variation between castes and tribes, but nonsignificant variation among ranked caste clusters. Haplotypic variation attributable to differences in geographical regions of habitat was also nonsignificant.
Although several early studies (Jakubiczka et al. 1989; Malaspina et al. 1990; Spurdle and Jenkins 1992; Dorit et al. 1995; Hammer 1995; Whitfield et al. 1995) pointed to a low level of variation in the Y chromosome, it has now been established beyond doubt that there are many Y-chromosomal markers that are highly polymorphic in all global populations (Deka et al. 1996; Ruiz-Linares et al. 1996;Santos and Pena 1996; Hammer et al. 1997; Karafet et al. 1997;Rodriguez-Delfin et al. 1997; Zerjal et al. 1997). Because the Y chromosome, except for its telomeric regions, is transmitted uniparentally (paternally) as a linkage group, it has turned out to be extremely useful in population genetic studies for establishing paternal lineages (Deka et al. 1996). Studies on Y-chromosomal variation permit the interesting possibility of contrasting male-specific histories of populations to female-specific ones, which are revealed by mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) studies.
Population differentiation with respect to the Y chromosome has been studied in many regions of the world, and India represents one of the most ethnically and genetically diverse regions (Majumder 1998). Socially, the vast majority (∼80%) of the Indian population belong to the Hindu religious fold and are organized into ∼2000 caste groups, each of which belongs to a socially ranked (broadly, upper, middle, and lower) caste cluster. The social rank is dependent on occupation, certain beliefs of purity and pollution, and continued settlement in a particular geographical location (Thapar 1992). The tribal populations of India are organized into clan groups; there are ∼400 tribes in India. Additionally, there are several religious communities, such as Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, Jews, etc. Marriages between different religious groups are extremely infrequent.
RESULTS
All populations were monomorphic for the Y Alu polymorphic [YAP−(deletion)] allele at the DYS287 locus and for the 119-bp allele at the DYS288 locus. [Correspondences between repeat numbers and allele sizes (bp) at all STR loci were obtained from Kayser et al. (1997).] The remaining six loci were polymorphic in all populations.
Haplotypes constructed on the basis of data of the six polymorphic loci and their frequencies observed in the study populations are presented in Table 2. The 125 sampled individuals harbored 81 distinct haplotypes, indicating extensive Y-chromosomal diversity. It was also observed that the haplotypes were generally population-specific; that is, the sets of haplotypes observed in the different study populations were largely disjoint. Only 12 (15%) of the 81 distinct haplotypes were shared between populations. Among the northern Indian populations of Uttar Pradesh (Brahmin, Chamar, and Rajput), the total number of distinct haplotypes was 35, of which only 3 (8.6%) were shared among the populations (1 haplotype was shared between the upper caste Brahmin and middle caste Rajput; 2 were shared between Rajput and lower caste Chamar). Among the eastern Indian populations of West Bengal and Orissa (Brahmin, Agharia, Bagdi, Mahishya, Tanti, Lodha, and Santal), the total number of distinct haplotypes observed was 60, of which only 7 (11.7%) were shared among the populations. The upper caste Brahmin shared one haplotype with middle caste Agharia and another with Santal tribals; the Agharia also shared one other haplotype with lower caste Mahishya and two other haplotypes with Lodha tribals; the Mahishyas shared a haplotype with the Santal tribals; and one haplotype was shared by three groups—the lower caste Mahishya and Tanti and the two tribal groups of Lodha and Santal. Therefore, there was minimal sharing of haplotypes among the ethnic groups studied.
“For the last 40 years, I have been tracing the route taken by the princess between Ayodhya and Kimhae city and after five visits, I have all the evidence to culturally connect the two cities.”
Nearly six years ago, the Korean government had declared Ayodhya as the sister city of Korea and a monument in the memory of Princess Hoh was also established here in the city.
“The Kara clan is the biggest community in Korea and we like to visit our queen mother’s place. Through these visits, we are making attempts to talk to the Uttar Pradesh government to open up their doors for strengthening cultural relations between the two countries,” said Prof Kim.
Ayodhya Shodh Sansthan director Dr Y P Singh said the state’s culture department is making all efforts to help the Koreans find their missing links.
“Through these interactions, we have been able to find new facets of Ayodhya and now in addition to being Lord Ram’s birthplace, the city has another significance attached,” said Singh.k
Korean nobility http://www.familytreedna.com/public/koreannobility/default.aspx There were dolmens and Germanic Caucasian Population Settlements in North Korea. North Koreans are Germanic Caucasian Settlers of R1B from the bronze age. 43% of North Koreans are genetically proven to have R1B which is similar to the amount of 40~50% R1A in India and the Middle East.
:::
All caste populations speak languages that belong to the Indo-European family, whereas both tribal populations are Austroasiatic speakers. AMOVA results showed that although 95.75% of the Y-chromosomal microsatellite haplotypic variation was within populations belonging to the two language families (or within populations belonging to caste or tribal clusters), the extent of variation between these groups of populations was 4.25% [F(ST) = 0.0425]. ThisF(ST) value was statistically significant, indicating that significant Y-chromosomal structuring due to differences in language, or analogously, for the present data set, due to caste–tribal differences. When we subdivided our data further by ranked caste categories (i.e., when the caste populations were grouped into the three separate ranked clusters), the additional variance thus explained was not statistically significant.
To examine whether Y-chromosomal variation was significantly structured because of differences in geographical locations of habitat of the populations, we grouped the populations as “northern Indian inhabitants” and “eastern Indian inhabitants”. Only 8 (13.3%) of the 60 distinct haplotypes (defined by five polymorphic microsatellite loci) were shared between populations inhabiting these two geographical regions. (It may be noted that of the 81 observed haplotypes defined on the basis of six polymorphic loci, several haplotypes defined by five microsatellite loci occurred on both αhHindIII+ and αhHindIII− backgrounds; hence, the number of distinct haplotypes dropped from 81 to 60.) AMOVA results indicated that haplotypic variation attributable to geographical differences was not statistically significant.
We have also examined the relationships among the haplotypes defined by the five microsatellite loci. The haplotype tree (not shown) comprised four major clusters of haplotypes; one haplotype (Table 1, haplotype 43) formed a single-point cluster. [This haplotype, observed among the tribal Santals, possessed a 15-repeat allele at the DYS391 locus, which was not observed in any other population.] Contrary to our expectations, however, the clusters of haplotypes did not correspond to the ethnic clusters.
ISCUSSION
The prevailing social customs of hypergamy and hypogamy in India restrict male gene flow among ethnic groups of India. We have tested this prediction, using several biallelic and microsatellite Y-chromosomal DNA markers.
The YAP element, which is found in varying frequencies in most global populations, is absent in all the populations included in the present study. The YAP+ frequency is very high among most African groups and low among European populations (see Table 7 of Passarino et al. 1998). The absence of this element among Indian populations confirms that Indians show relatively more genetic similarities with the Caucasoids than with the Negroids (Majumder 1998). It is, however, noteworthy that our earlier studies have revealed that the Austroasiatic tribal populations of India have some of the human-specific Aluelements in the nuclear genome at frequencies that are similar to those found in many African populations (Majumder et al. 1999). The ranges of repeat numbers and allele frequencies at the polymorphic microsatellite loci in the study populations are consistent with global estimates (Kayser et al. 1997). At most of these loci, the most frequent allele is not the same across populations. This may indicate different origins of the study populations or may be due to effects of genetic drift. The locus DYS288 was found to be monomorphic. Comparable data at this locus are not available from many other populations (Kayser et al. 1997).
High levels of haplotype diversity were noted in all clusters of populations. Consistent with our earlier findings, based on serum protein and enzyme polymorphisms, the ethnic populations of India harbor higher levels of genetic diversity that most comparable global regions (Majumder 1998). The highest level of haplotype diversity was found among the middle castes. This finding is not unexpected in view of the fact that the social boundaries of the middle caste groups have, historically, been the most fluid.
Nearly disjoint sets of haplotypes were found among the study populations. Because the effective population size with respect to the Y chromosome is only one-quarter of the autosomal effective population size, this phenomenon may be due to drift effects but is consistent with the prevailing norms governing marriage that severely restrict male gene flow across ethnic boundaries. In the caste hierarchy, the middle caste groups are expected to be the most fluid genetically. The data on haplotype sharing presented in this paper are largely consistent with this expectation. However, although within a restricted geographical region (eastern or northern India in the present study) the caste groups belonging to the upper social rank do not share haplotypes with groups belonging to the lower social rank, there is such sharing of haplotypes across geographical regions. This may indicate that when there are unions, within or outside of marriage, between an upper caste man and a lower caste woman inhabiting a geographical area, there is a tendency for them to move away to distant geographical areas and then affiliate with a lower, not upper, caste in the new location. The fact that tribal clusters share haplotypes with middle and lower castes, but not with upper castes, is also interesting. There are documented instances of tribal groups that after relinquishing the hunter–gatherer life style and adopting agriculture, were converted to castes—mostly lower castes (Bose 1953; Mandelbaum 1970). Sharing of haplotypes among clusters of populations was, however, not significantly higher than chance expectation.
The extent of molecular variance attributable to differences among socially ranked clusters was found to be statistically nonsignificant. This is striking and indicates that Y-chromosomal variation is not structured by social rank, consistent with the anthropological finding that there has been social mobility and variations in ranks of ethnic groups in India (Thapar 1992). However, our analysis has revealed that the extent of molecular variation at the Y-chromosomal microsatellite loci between castes, who are all Indo-European speakers in our sample, and tribes, who are all Austroasiatic speakers in our sample, is significant. No such significant variation was observed between geographical regions.
The comparison of chromosomes on αhHindIII+ and αhHindIII− backgrounds has also revealed an interesting aspect of the population differentiation in India. If one makes the reasonable assumption that the loss of a restriction site is more probable than its gain, it is clear that the αhHindIII site loss was a very ancient mutation and that the two alleles at this locus had reached nearly equal frequencies before the differentiation of the study populations into separate ethnic groups. The finding that the most frequent alleles at all microsatellite loci, except at DYS393, are the same on chromosomes with αhHindIII+ and αhHindIII− backgrounds further corroborates this view. However, the fact that the clustering of haplotypes did not correspond to the ethnic clusters, is contrary to the simple expectation arising from the finding of highly disjoint sets of haplotypes among the populations. We are unable to provide a clear explanation of this lack of correspondence. We hypothesize that there was large Y-chromosomal haplotype diversity even before the people of India became organized into distinct social groups and that each social group was formed by a restricted number of male lineages. Collection of data on more biallelic loci and further study variation at microsatellite loci on the multibiallelic locus backgrounds in these populations will contribute to a deeper understanding of the population history of India
JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY & FOLKLORE 
Nice work. I am more interested in this subject and about the Kamboja Japan link for my research. Please email me so we can discuss this further. Thanks!
Wonderful information. Bears out what I read in Korean Consulate in Hong Kong in 1964. And helps explain the wonderful gold crown jewellery of the Silla Dynasty. Wonderful.
John Ball
Australia
You got to love sites like this. How is it that American and British version of Scythians completely differs from that of Russian and German version of Scythian history? Which they also give a completely different genetics of their findings. Even top rated American Universities agree with Russia and Germany on this subject but yet I keep seeing sites like this one.
Nevertheless, it has been long determined that Native Americans, Afro-Americans, Mestizos, Mexicans, and Black Sea Russo-German are one in the same pedigree of Scythians.