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One of the common views held by many scholars is that
‘Aryans’ or Hindus influenced the Mundari people such that these people had
started worshiping “Aryan” Gods. The same explanation is given to justify the presence
of Sanskrit words in their language. However a closer examination of their
festivals and practices give rise to a view that such ‘Aryan’ practices are
running basically in their culture. Another important observation is that they
all have had some connection with peninsular India and ancient Tamil or
proto-Tamil.
The basic problem is in thinking that Mundas are different
from Hindus. All the features and ideas of their culture are seen in rural
India even today. They are found in Tamil Sangam texts too that describe the
culture that existed 2000 years ago. Texts like “Malai
padu kadaam” and “Maduraik kaanchi”
describe the life style of different types people living in forests and hills
and we do find them similar to the life style and beliefs of Mundas. The
Mundari speaking people show a close semblance to the life style in Peninsular
India. We will discuss them in this article.
The
Vedic or “Aryan” festivals of Mundas.
The Mundas celebrate Bissho karma puja which is the same as
Vishwa Karma Puja – Vishwa Karma being the Creator-architect. It is easy to
attribute this to some influence from ‘Hindus’. But their celebration of “Asharhe Puja” in Ashada month is something that Vedic
society was celebrating but had given up long ago. This is similar to “Ashada
Puja” in the Vedic society in which Goddess Saraswati was invoked as Vaak Devi
to help in determining the level of prosperity of the upcoming rainy season.
The available record of this Puja is found only in Brihad samhita authored by
Varahamihira. {1) This
puja was in vogue before the times of Varahamihira. No wonder Mundas worship
Goddess Saraswati too which people think is an influence from Hinduism.
Monsa Puja
Another festival is the Monsa Puja
which they celebrate in Shravan month. For Mundas, Monsa signifies serpents.
Their belief in Monsa as a serpent God is so indigenous and so deep rooted that
whenever they see a snake in the dream, they connect it to Monsa Devi. In Vedic
culture there is Goddess Manasa
Devi with a hood of a snake upon her head. Manasa Devi appears with a child
in her hand.
Pic courtesy:-
There is a story behind this appearance of Manasa Devi, narrated in Mahabharata. This story recognises
the child in Manasa’s hand as Astika who was
born to release the ancestors. Hindus believe that the snake signifies an
impediment to getting progeny and worship of snake removes this impediment. The
iconography of Manasa Devi seems to be the precursor to this belief. By
worshiping Manasa Devi who is a personification of snake, one is blessed with a
child. The child is desired primarily to pay off ancestral debts through
ancestral worship. This concept is very much original and oldest concept of the
Vedic society. The accessory elements may be missing in Mundari Monsa Devi. But
the snake identity is retained by them. Monsa Devi could not have been an
adopted concept as they have dream interpretations for Monsa. It must have been
a former concept that was retained by them even after they had gone into
isolation.
The same idea of Manasa Devi with a child is there in Tamil
nadu by the name Isakki amman.
This Goddess is found in many regions of Tamilnadu where
some valorous women in the deed of protecting a child had been deified as Isakki. There is mention of Isakki as Iyakki in the 1st
century AD text of Silappadhikaram, thereby establishing this deity as an olden
concept. By the name Iyakki, it means that she is one who ‘drives’ the world /
souls. She is Iccha shakthi of Creator God. That is identified as Manasa Devi. Thus
a similar meaning with a similar iconography had existed throughout India. The
original idea must have been Monsa Devi worshiped by Mundas. The idea of Monsa
with serpent related to progeny could have been converted into forms of Manasa
and Isakki, perhaps after Parashurama ushered in Devi worship through his
Kalpasutra.
Plough – festival, Akshay Tritiya and Rohini
The paddy sowing festival of Santals is called “Ero”. It is done on Akshaya Tritiya in the month of Chithrai– on the day when Sun
and Moon exalts simultaneously. Even Toda people
have a celebration on Akshaya Triteeya! This day is an important day in Vedic
society. How did the Mundari people come to possess the knowledge to compute
the date of Akshaya Triteeya if they had not had that knowledge by themselves –
from the time of their previous habitat?
A surprising connection to this day is that it is the day of
Parashurama’s birthday! This day must have been
an important day in the coastal region of Konkan and Malabar. Toda people
hailing from there can be expected to have remembered this day but lost out the
significance in course of time. The Santali tradition of remembering this day
for ploughing might have come from an early Tamil practice. The Tamils had a
tradition of starting the first ploughing called “ponnEru” (golden plough) in
the month of Chithrai. It continues even today. The plough is called “Er” or “Eru”
in Tamil. The festival Ero sounds like Tamil “Eru” (yEru) which means plough.
On the day of Akshaya Tritiya, Moon will be in the asterism
of Rohini (Aldebaran). On
this day the agricultural tribes of Jharkhand including the Mundari people
start sowing the seeds. The star Rohini is identified with Creator God Brahma. Anything to do with
growth and development is done on this day. This is a concept of Vedic society.
The Mundas and other tribes of Jharkhand sow the seeds on this day, but without
any pomp and festivities. This is something unusual for a society that is known
for songs and dances for every activity. Perhaps this day coinciding with
Parashurama Jayanathi could have nipped out the festivities! However the day
was not discarded due to its significance for growth related activity. The
absence of festivity does indicate a conscious decision to do away with it due
to Parashurama’s connection to this date. But this reason could have been
forgotten over time.
Today this date had been commercially exploited by gold
merchants calling people to buy gold. Originally this date was used as an ideal
time for starting the agricultural practices to get a ‘golden’ harvest.
From axe-culture to Plough culture.
In this context it is apt to make a comparison between ‘axe’
culture and ‘plough’ culture. Axe culture is
identified with Parashurama
and Plough culture is identified with Balarama, another avatar of Vishnu.
In Parashurama’s times, new settlements were made by clearing the forests. Axe
was the main implement to cut the trees. The Bhargava people of Parashurama’s
clan fell out with Haihaya
rulers and were forced to move out of Vindhya ranges. They were said to have
made new settlements by clearing the forests.
In his times Parashurama was known to be carrying the axe
always. Even the Mundari speaking people carry the axe all the time.
Particularly the Savaras are known to be carrying it always. There was even an
attempt to decipher the name Savara from the Scythian
word Sagaris having the meaning axe. In the words of Cunningham, “It seems
therefore not unreasonable to infer that the tribe who were so called took
their name from their habit of carrying axes. Now it is one of the striking
peculiarities of the Savars that they are rarely seen without an axe in their
hands. The peculiarity has been frequently noticed by all who have seen them.”
{2}
The Asur- Marundas also must have carried the axe to procure
wood for furnaces. The Sanskrit name of axe as Parashu exists in Asur clan
names as Parsa. However the common word for axe in Mundari language sounds
closer to its Tamil equivalent. In Tamil the axe is called as “Kodari”. In Mundari language a small axe is called as “Konde”. Likewise the plough is called as “Hada” in Mundari – similar to its Sanskrit equivalent
‘Hala’. But the first ploughing is called as “Ero” – similar to the Tamil word “Er” for plough.
Makar festival.
The Makar parba or Makar parva is celebrated by Santals of
the Mundari speaking people. The words Makar and Parva are Sanskrit but the
festival is similar to Tamil festival of Pongal
celebrated on Makar Sankaranthi. It is a three day celebration in Santali as
well as Tamil tradition. On the first day that comes before Makar
sankaranthi, Santali children and youth
burn logs of wood in the morning in a celebration called “Kumbha”. On the same day Tamils burn discarded things
in the morning in a celebration called “Bhogi”.
Maghe festival.
The Maghe festival coming on Full Moon of Margashira is
related to Dattatreya Jayanthi. However this was
also the day when “Paavai nonbu” was started in Tamil lands. But the features
of Tamil Paavai festival is not found in
Maghe Parba. Maghe parba resembles only Dattatreya Jayanthi that was discussed
in Part
2. This festival bears the imprints of an earlier memory of the Vedic
society.
Phagu festival.
Phagu festival is related to Holi
festival. It is celebrated on the full moon of the Phalguni month. The name Phagu
is corrupted from Phalguni. It was a very old festival in the Vedic society as
it is about Holika, the aunt of Prahalad. This has reference to the Narasimha Avatar,that
preceded Parashurama’s times.
Tamil culture in Mundas.
The flower festival of Sarhul celebrated by the Munda people
resembles such festivals noted in ancient Tamil lands. Sarhul sounds like “Sarakonnai” flower of Tamil lands
Sarakonnai flower
The first flower in spring and first rains in summer were
celebrated in Tamil culture. Even today “raining the
flower” festival (Poo-chorithal) is celebrated in almost
all the Amman temples in Tamil lands in the month of Chithrai. Sarhul of Mundas
seems to resemble that.
The Karam festival is related
to Kadamba festival of the Konkan region which
was discussed in Part
1.
Remnants of Skanda culture in Savaras.
One example of a very olden connect with Peninsular India is
seen in the traditional names that Savaras have
for their religious functionaries. They have a village priest, a Shaman, a
helper to the Shaman and one who does funeral rites. Shamanism in India can be
traced back to Skanda cult. Even today one can witness Shaman practices among
Skanda devotees on popular festival days for Skanda. In the Tamil Sangam age it
was too widespread and there were people called “Velan”
who used to do fierce dances to the accompaniment of drum-beats to drive out
the evil spirits or to spell oracles. This tradition is said to come in Kura-magal
community of Valli, the local
tribal girl whom Skanda married. Kura- magal means the girl from Kurava community. (There is a Korwa clan among Mundari
speakers!).
The Shaman priest of Savaras bears a similar name – “Kuranmavan”. {3} This is
a Tamil word meaning “the guy of the Kurava clan”. Kura-magal is a
female and Kura-mavan is a male.
The helper to this Shaman priest is “Idaimayan”. This also sounds like a Tamil word “Idai-magan” the one
who comes in between or in the middle – meaning one whose services are taken in
between, or one who comes in the middle in the hierarchy.
The one who does funeral rites is known as “Siggamavan”. ‘Mavan’ in this word is a Tamil word used
in colloquial form for ‘magan’ – meaning person. Sigga perhaps comes from “Sigi” in Tamil which means fire! As one engaged in
keeping up the funeral fire, it is perfectly logical that he was called as “Sigi-mavan” that corrupted as “Sigga mavan” meaning “the guy working on fire”
Savaras
Pic courtesy:-
Project Gutenberg's Castes and Tribes of
Southern India, by Edgar Thurston
The Santals call the head of the village as “Manjhi”.”Manjan” is the Tamil word that refers to a
man. Similarly the word “Pergana” is common
among Santals and widely prevalent in North east India. It refers to some
groups or septs among them. This context of the word “Pergana” seems to convey
that it is “Perum-gana” in Tamil meaning “the
big group”.
Munda’s
original name is a Tamil word.
The Mundas call themselves as “Horoko”
in which ‘horo’ refers to man, according to them. In their speech the letters
‘h’ and ‘r’ are interchangeable with ‘k’ and ‘l’ respectively. As such ‘horo’
is also mentioned as “kolo” or “kol”. Mundas say that ‘hor’ or ‘kol’ means
‘man. This can be seen in the way they refer to people as “Santali Hor”, “Mundari hor” or “Mundari kol” etc.
But there exists a word “Kolam” in Tamil that refers to
‘appearance’ or ‘form’. In Tamil it is common to use the word ‘Kolam’ along
with a name to refer to someone ‘in the form of so and so’. For example ‘Andi-k-kolam’ means ‘in the form of an ascetic’. This
can be understood as ‘ascetic man’ in which kolam comes to refer to man. But
that is not the actual meaning of kolam. The word ‘kolam’ here only means ‘in
the form of’. Lord Skanda is famously
referred to by the term “Andi-k-kolam – meaning “Skanda
in the form of ascetic”.
The same idea seems to exist in the word ‘kol’ of Mundas. They refer to a Santali as ‘Santali hor(kol)’. By
the logic of the usage in Tamil, Santali
Hor means ‘one in the form of Santal’. They say “Larka kol” to mean “one
in the form of war-like person”. The say “sAdAn
Horo” to refer to a non-Munda or a foreigner. The word “sAdAn” is a
corrupt form of ‘sAdArana” in Tamil and
SAdharan in Sanskrit - which means ‘ordinary’. If we substitute ‘form or
appearance’ for horo or kol, the word sAdAn Horo refers
to “ordinary man and not a Munda!”
The subtlety in the use of ‘hor’ or ‘kol’ is understood from this word.
The word “Kolam” is used in Tamil
when a person is in disguise in that form. The Mundari speaking people
were actually living incognito and hiding their true identity. In such a
context it makes perfect sense to refer to a person to be ‘in the form of a
Santal” or in the form of a Kurukh or Korwa and so on by the use of the word
“kol”. So when the Munda identifies himself as “Hork-ko” (ko in the word makes
it plural. Similar use of ‘ka’ or “ga” for plural is there in corrupt form of
Tamil. Eg – avan’ga’ to refer to they or these people), he is making a
reference to his disguised form as so and so. A society that is living by
hiding its identity can be expected to use such terms.
Tamil and Sanskrit in Munda septs and totems
The presence of Tamil is seen in the word they use to refer
to the septs. Mundas are divided into septs called “Killi”.
‘Killi’ is a Tamil word. There were Chola kings by names “Killi Valavan”, Nalam
“killi”, Pernar killi” etc. “Killi” in their name exists as family name or
clan name. But no analysis or information exists on why these kings came to
have ‘killi’ in their names. But the application of the word “killi” as it
exists in Mundari language shows that the word “Killi” is derived from “Kilai”. Kilai
means ‘branch’ and also ‘relatives’. Therefore a group of people who are
related to each other or those who belong to the same gotra could be called as
“Kilai”. From Kilai, the word ‘killi’ had come. Among Mundas, people of the
same Killi do not marry within the Killi. This establishes the gotra identity
among the same killi. The Tamil meaning as ‘relatives’ concurs with this
practice.
I wonder whether any connection exists between Cholan Killis and Mundari Killis!
Mundas were Maruttas originally. The Cholans trace their origin in Sibi’s
dynasty. This is known from many Sangam texts and also from copper plate
inscriptions found at Thiruvalangadu. A
commonality exists between them as both Sibi and Marutta people had gone
underground to escape from Parashurama. Sibi’s descendants lived near the river
Sindhu in North west India and Maruttas lived incognito in Shindhu kalaka of
the same region. It is possible the some of them had gone further west and to
central Asia. But Cholavarman, a descendant of
Sibi dynasty came to Pumpukar and founded the Chola
dynasty. {4}
This was before Parashurama’s times as there is a narration in a Tamil text
called Manimegalai of how the Cholan king of Pumpukar went into hiding when Parashurama
was around on the lookout for kshatriyas.
{Note
on Cholas:- Cholavarman’s ancestry coming from Sibi in North west India
must not be considered as proof of Tamil speaking
people having come from North west of India. The original Tamil speakers
were Pandyans who came from the now submerged
regions in the Indian Ocean. Tamil as a language refined with grammar was
developed by Pandyans. However Tamil in corrupt form called as “Kodum Tamil” (meaning ‘stunted Tamil’ which is what
Apabrahmsa also means) existed in other regions of India. It is a different
history of how this happened. It will be discussed in another series).
There is no etymology for Chola in Tamil. But Choda or
Chauda or Chaula as variations of this name, refer to tuft. There is a proverb in Tamil related
to Cholas and their tuft. (“Cholian Kudumi chumma
aadaathu” – meaning the “the tuft of the Cholia
does not shake for no reason”) The tuft of a Chola was tied in the front
of the head. The existence of this proverb and people with Cholia titles and having
tuft connected to Cholia make it known that Cholas were originally known for
this kind of tuft. Perhaps the Cholas got their name from the tuft they
sported.
The following illustration shows the front-tuft. The picture
is that of Periyaazhwar, a Vaishnavite saint who was the father of AndAL. He is
always depicted with the Cholia tuft that is tied in the front of the head.
Cholistan in present-day
Pakistan might perhaps be the place of Chola origin. The presence of Brahui language with similarities with Tamil could be related
to the emergence of Cholavarma from this part of
the country. It must be noted that the similar front-side tuft is found in
people of the olden days in the stretch starting from Pakistan to Russia. A
genetic study on the traditional front-tuft people of Eurasia and Cholia titled
castes of Tamilnadu such as Cholia Brahmins and Cholia Vellalas needs to be
done to look for connections.
The Cholan presence in the region near Indus makes them and
Maruttas share language and traditions. The title Killi
for Cholan kings to be same as Killi of Mundas must be viewed in this
perspective too. }
Sanskrit and Tamil in totems
of Killi.
Each Killi of Mundas has a totem as an identity. The names
of these totems are found to be Sanskrit or Tamil. For example Kachap killi has Kachap as totem – kachap means
tortoise in Sanskrit. Likewise there are totems like Tuti
that refers to Tulsi plant. Mundas use tulsi leaves in pujas to sprinkle water.
Soe totem refers to ‘sura’ in Tamil which refers
to a fish. Nag totem refers to serpent. Purthi totem means insect. In Tamil ‘Puchi’ means insect. The term Purthi seems to be a
corrupt form of Tamil word ‘Puchi’. Hansda totem
refers to swan. Obviously Hansda is a corruption of Hamsa!
The fusion of Sanskrit and Tamil is seen in the totem ‘Kamal’. It means lotus in Mundari language too. The
link with Tamil word exists in the Sept name that has Kamal as the totem. The
sept name is “Tamar Pergana” – Tamarai is a
Tamil word for lotus! Tamar Pergana is similar to “Tamarai Perum gana”. The
septs and totems are something indigenous to the Mundari people. They have come
from their basic culture. Many totems were formed in course of time, but their
names certainly show Tamil or Sanskrit words mingled in their language. The
co-existence of Tamil and Sanskrit in these names show how these two languages
had co-existed as part and parcel of the society in their previous origins.
In this context it must be mentioned, that the famous Tamil
Sangam age Grammar book called “Tholkappiyam” (meaning ‘ancient Kavya’) was authored by a descendant
of Jamadagni’s lineage or Jamadagni Gotra! Popularly known as
“Tholkappiyar”, his original name was ‘Trunadhoomagni’
In the very first verse of this grammar book he expresses his
qualification as having mastered the Sanskrit Vyakarana text called Aindram. It is with the knowledge of this
Vyakarana text, he had written the grammar for Tamil. A JAmadagya possessing fine knowledge of Tamil and even
qualified to write a grammar book in Tamil that became the official grammar
book of the Sangam Assembly is a crucial piece of evidence that Tamil was a
widely spoken language and that it co-existed along with Sanskrit in India,
particularly from Vindhyas downward south and among Vedic sages. The
probable time period of this grammar book was 1500 BCE – the time when the last
and the 3rd Sangam was inaugurated.
The Mundari tribes.
The Mundas had existed as Maruttas and then as Marundas.
Those who were engaged in iron smelting were identified as Asurs. The Santals
seem to have come from Coromandal coasts. The Savaras came from the Vindhya
regions. The Kurukhs aka Oraons came from Kishkindha as they were descendants
of vanaras. “The ‘Bhuiyas’, a Munda tribe, call themselves as Pāwan-ka-put
or Children of the Wind, that is of the race of Hanumān, who was the Son of the
Wind”. {5}
The former regions of these tribes
were near Vindhyas and the west coast of South India. The warrior ancestors of
these tribes living in these regions left these regions due to fear of
Parashurama and later settled in the hills and forests of Bihar, Chhattisgarh,
Bengal and Orissa. Of them the mention of Savaras
by Mahabharata comes as a strong evidence of why they still continue to be as
they are now. The Mahabharata says that
they became Kshatriya vrratyas due to the rage
of Parashurama. The Savaras and others who fled had to live on whatever they
could lay their hands on. They had to subsist on anything that they can catch
hold of, say a frog or rat. Mahabharata 18-135 says,
“By accepting food from a eunuch, or from an ungrateful
person, or from one who has misappropriated wealth entrusted to his charge, one
is born in the country of the Savaras
situated beyond the precincts of the middle country.”
This is to say that one would get degraded food in Savara
areas which was beyond the Madhya desa – of Saraswathi basin. Though Savaras existed
in seclusion, their existence was known to people in Mahabharata times.
The fear of Parashurama resonated upto Pumpukaar of the
Chola kingdom. The reigning Cholan king Kanthan handed
over the kingdom to his son born to a concubine thinking that Parashurama would
not consider him to be pure kshatritya race. That Parashurama went after only
valiant kshatriyas is known by a similar reference to one “Balika” of Amshuman
dynasty who was always surrounded by women. This earned him a name “NAru
kavacha” – the one who is protected by women. It is for this reason he was
spared by Parashurama, says Srimad Bhagavatham {6}
Inscriptional evidence:-
That the Parashurama episode was a fact of history is known
from an inscription of the Cholas. Parashurama crowned the one born to a Haihaya
princess whose father was killed by him while his wife was pregnant with this
child. Parashurama crowned him somewhere in Konkan region near a hill called Mooshika (in Tamil “Ezhil
malai”). This king was called as Rama kuta Mooshika – one crowned by Rama of Bhargava kula. King Rajendra Chola I captured this crown
given by Parashurama from the “sAntima dweepa” {7}
Today no place exists by this name. But the Tulu Gramapadhata mentions an island called “sAnti” as one among 77 islands that belonged to Gorashtra
on the west coast of India. {8} None of these islands exist today. But a look
at the sea level maps of Graham Hancock shows that some islands had existed in
this part of the sea which were once an extension of west coast at the time of
Ice age.
The following series of maps would reveal the changes that
happened in course of time.
The figure below shows the complete inundation of the island
under sea water. The arrow-mark in yellow points to the sunken island which is
seen in light blue.
This image shows the region of south west in the Kurma
Chakra of division of India as it existed about 2000 years ago. According to Varaha
mihira, places called Hemagiri, Sindhukalaka, Raivataka, Surashtra, Baadara,
Dravida and Maharnva were located within the curve as shown in the figure
above. {9}
This region housed some important places of pilgrimage in
Mahabharata times.
There is reference in Mahabharata of a pilgrimage by Pandavas
that speak about the islands off Konkan coast near Surparaka where sacrificial
platforms for Jamadagni were present. {10}. As per Mahabharata accounts, the Pandavas
went to Surparaka. From there they crossed certain tract on the coast of the
sea and reached the islands dotted with forests. Those places were beheld by
rulers and ascetics in the past. The Pandavas offered their worship, fasted and
made donations. Then from there they came back to Surparaka. From Surparaka
they went to Prabhas
(Somnath) where the pilgrimage was formally concluded. {11}
The islands off
Konkan coast that Pandavas visited are no longer there. A marine exploration of
this region would reveal many clues to Parashurama’s historicity.
West-coast
connection to Dravida and Manu
The importance of those islands is something that goes far
beyond Parashurama’s times. What it could be?
An important feature of the Parashurama episode is that he
relocated Brahmins in the stretch of west coast that was reclaimed from the
sea. In the process, people like Kurukhs /Oraons had to quit this place or were
forced to leave this place to make room for the new settlers. The so-called
Dravida Brahmins were made to settle in this stretch who later spanned out to
Kanchipuram and Andhra. Of all the places in India, why Parashurama chose this
stretch and even made his final abode in Surparaka in this stretch is a big
question. Added to this is the mystery of the sunken islands off Surparaka that
Pandavas visited.
There are many leads to unravel this mystery in British records,
Mahabharata and some inscriptions on Dravida lands in this stretch as far as
south Kerala near “Aryan-kaavu” – the place where the famous Iyappa temple is
located. An analysis of these leads give us a revelation that Vaivaswatha manu also
known as Dravidewara
Manu was living in this stretch before Holocene
when the sea levels were low due to Ice age in the Northern hemisphere.
When the sudden sea floods happened at the end of Ice age, Manu and his men
(who were prepared for the flood) were pushed by the sea currents in the
Arabian seas that gushed from Indian Ocean. The currents carried them northward
and pushed them into river Saraswati and reached them as far as the Himalayan
mountains. The birth of Rig Vedas started after that. But the previous habitat
in the west coast of India was lost to the seas.
The following illustration shows the probable movement of
inhabitants - Vaivaswata Manu and his subjects and sages who lived in the coastal
extensions at the beginning of Holocene.
River saraswati was flowing mightily at that time. The
estuary of that river formed the entry point of Manu pushed by the currents (or
pulled by the Mathsya, the mythical Fish) which came to be called as Dwaraka. Every
time this entry was swallowed by the sea, another Dwaraka was built in
remembrance of that early entry that facilitated the growth of new civilisation
of Vaivaswatha Manu.
In course of time, when the domination of Kshatriyas grew to
the extent of arrogance, Parashurama was present in the picture affected by an
act of arrogance and atrocity by the Kshatriyas (Haihaya Kartha veeryarjuna) . He
decided to call it a day and destroyed every kshatriya around him. Wanting to
start from the beginning, he reclaimed the lost coast of Dravida Manu and
settled the Brahmins who had come from the time of Manu. The explanation and
justification of this require another series of articles which I will take up
in a future date.
(Concluded)
References:-
{1} Brihad samhita – chapter 26.
{2} “The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India”
- Volume IV of IV, by R.V. Russell
{3} “Tribal culture of India” L.P Vidyarthi & Binay Kumar
p260
{5} “The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India”,
Vol 3 by R. V. Russell
{6} Srimad Bhagavatham - 9.9.40
{7} One dated at 1024 AD found on a rock on top of
Thirumalaik kunRu near POLur and another dated 1031 AD found in the southern
side of the sanctum sanctum of Rajarajeswara temple in Tanjore.
{8} “Ancient Karnataka” Vol I ‘History of Tuluva’.
{9} Brihad samhita 14- 19
{10} Mahabharata 3-88
{11} Mahabharata 3-118
