Āryāvarta

Not to be confused with Aryabhata.

Āryāvarta (Sanskrit: आर्यावर्त, lit. 'Land of the Noble ones',^{[a][web 1][web 2]} Sanskrit pronunciation: [aːrjaːˈʋərtə]) is a term for the northern Indian subcontinent in the ancient Hindu texts such as Dharmashastras and Sutras, referring to the areas of the Indo-Gangetic Plain and surrounding regions settled during and after the Indo-Aryan migrations by Indo-Aryan tribes and where Indo-Aryan religion and rituals predominated. The limits of Āryāvarta extended over time, as reflected in the various sources, as the influence of the Brahmanical ideology spread eastwards in post-Vedic times.^[3][4]

The approximate extent of Āryāvarta during the late Vedic period (ca. 1100-500 BCE). Aryavarta was limited to northwest India and the western Ganges plain, while Greater Magadha in the east was habitated by non-Vedic Indo-Aryans and other people, who gave rise to Jainism and Buddhism.^[1][2]

Cemetery H, Late Harappan, OCP, Copper Hoard and Painted Grey ware sites.

Geographical boundaries

Ganges-Yamuna doab

Course of the Ganges river; Ganges-Yamuna doab western part of the green area.

The Ganges-Yamuna doab.

The Baudhayana Dharmasutra (BDS) 1.1.2.10 (perhaps compiled in the 8th to 6th centuries BCE) declares that Āryāvarta is the land that lies west of Kālakavana, east of Adarsana, south of the Himalayas and north of the Vindhyas, but in BDS 1.1.2.11 Āryāvarta is confined to the doab of the Ganges-Yamuna. BDS 1.1.2.13-15 considers people from beyond this area as of mixed origin, and hence not worthy of emulation by the Aryans. Some sutras recommend expiatory acts for those who have crossed the boundaries of Aryavarta. Baudhayana Srautasutra recommends this for those who have crossed the boundaries of Aryavarta and ventured into far away places.^[5]

The Vasistha Dharma Sutra (oldest sutras ca. 500–300 BCE) I.8-9 and 12-13 locates the Āryāvarta to the east of the disappearance of the Sarasvati River in the desert, to the west of the Kālakavana, to the north of the Pariyatra Mountains and the Vindhya Range and to the south of the Himalayas.^[6]

Patanjali's Mahābhāṣya (mid-2nd century BCE) defines Āryāvarta like the Vashistha Dharmasutra.^{[citation needed]} According to Bronkhost, he "situates it essentially in the Ganges plan, between the Thar desert in the west and the confluence of the rivers Ganges (Ganga) and Jumna (Yamuna) in the east."^[3]

From sea to sea

The Manusmṛti (dated between 2nd cent. BCE to 3rd cent. CE) (2.22) gives the name to "the tract between the Himalaya and the Vindhya Ranges, from the Eastern Sea (Bay of Bengal) to the Western Sea (Arabian Sea)".^[7][8]

The Manava Dharmasastra (ca.150-250 CE) gives aryavarta as stretching from the eastern to the western seas, which Bronkhorst directly associates with the growing sphere of influence of the Brahmanical ideology.^[3]

Greater Magadha and its association with Aryavarta

See also: Sanskritisation, Hindu synthesis, and Greater Magadha

The post-Vedic period of the Second Urbanisation saw a decline of Vedic ritualism or Brahmanism.^[9][10] According to Bronkhorst, Greater Magadha was outside Aryavarta, the heartland of Vedic Brahmanism west of this confluence, which he claims was primarily associated with a single state, the Kuru kingdom. According to Bronkhorst, the various emperors of Magadha had little interest in Brahmanism,^[b] and the conquest of the Vedic heartland by the Nanda and Maurya rulers deprived the Brahmins of their patrons, threatening the survival of the Vedic ritual tradition and creating opportunities for Buddhists and Jains to spread their religions outside the confines of Magadha.^[15]

According to Bronkhorst, the Brahmins overcame their deprivation of patrons by providing new services^[16] and by incorporating the non-Vedic Indo-Aryan religious heritage of the eastern Ganges plain along with local religious traditions, giving rise to the Hindu synthesis.^[15]

However, several other Indologists and scholars have criticised Johannes Bronkhorst's claim of a sharp cultural divide between east and west, the supposed lesser influence of Brahmanisation in early Magadha, and his proposed revision of textual chronology, while also criticising him for overlooking the role of socioeconomic and political developments in shaping new ideological trends.^[17][18]

Patrick Olivelle is especially critical of all those who see Śramaṇa seers of Magadha as non-Brahmanical, anti-Brahmanical, or even non-Aryan precursors of later sectarian ascetics. According to Olivelle, these scholars are trying to draw conclusions that far outstrip the available empirical evidence.^[19]

Alexander Wynne asserts that unorthodox Brahmin thinkers in the eastern gangetic plains developed the ideas that triggered the ascetic and philosophical culture Bronkhorst associates with Greater Magadha.^[20]

Other regional designations

The Manusmṛti mentions Brahmavarta as the region between the Sarasvati and the Drishadvati in northwest India. The text defines the area as the place where the "good" people are born, the twice-born who adhere to the Vedic dharma, in contrast to the mlecchas, who live outside the Aryan territory and Vedic traditions.^[21] The precise location and size of the region has been the subject of academic uncertainty.^[22] Some scholars, such as the archaeologists Bridget Allchin and Raymond Allchin, believe the term Brahmavarta to be synonymous with Aryavarta.^[23]

Madhyadesa extended from the upper reaches of the Ganges and the Yamuna to the confluence of the two rivers at Prayaga, and was the region where, during the time of the Mahajanapadas, the Kuru Kingdom and Pañcāla existed. The entire region is considered sacred in the Hindu mythology as gods and heroes mentioned in the two epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata, lived here.^[24][25]

Political history

Kanyakubja or modern day Kannauj was a central city of Aryavarta and was used as capital-city from 510 CE to 1197 CE under Maukharis, Harshavardhana, Varmans, Pratiharas and Gahadavala dynasty.^{[26][27][28][29][30]}

The Gurjara-Pratihara king in the tenth century was titled the Maharajadhiraja of Aryavarta.^[31] Devapala, the emperor of Pala Empire was known to be the Overlord of Aryavarta.^[32]

See also

• Names of India
• Indo-Aryan migrations
• List of ancient Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes
• Bharata Khanda
• Airyanem Vaejah, its Zoroastrian counterpart
• History of India

Notes

1. The Sanskrit word ā́rya (आर्य) was originally a cultural term designating those who spoke Vedic Sanskrit and adhered to Vedic cultural norms (including religious rituals and poetry), in contrast to an outsider, or an-ā́rya ('non-Arya').By the time of the Buddha (5th–4th century BCE), it took the meaning of 'noble'.
2. In contrast to the Jain legends which developed 900 years later,^[11] contemporary Greek evidence states that Chandragupta Maurya, the founder and first emperor of the Maurya Empire and grandfather of Ashoka, was associated with Vedic Brahminism.^[12] Chandragupta sponsored Vedic sacrifices^[13] and Brahmanical rituals.^[14] He also delighted in hunting,^[12] an activity not typically associated with the strict non-violence of later sectarian ascetic sects such as Jainism and Buddhism.