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Sunil Kumar Bhattacharya says that the Abhiras are mentioned in the first-century work of [[classical antiquity]], the ''Periplus of the Erythraean Sea''. He considers them to be a race rather than a tribe.<ref name="Bhattacharya1996p126">{{cite book |title=Krishna&nbsp;— Cult in Indian Art |first=Sunil Kumar |last=Bhattacharya |publisher=M.D. Publications |year=1996 |isbn=9788175330016 |page=126 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SyyNIL7Ug2kC}}</ref> Scholars such as [[Ramaprasad Chanda]] believe that they were [[Indo-Aryan peoples]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Ramaprasad |last=Chanda |author-link=Ramaprasad Chanda |title=The Indo-Aryan races: a study of the origin of Indo-Aryan people and institutions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h-bkVF3kXGQC|year=1969 |publisher=Indian Studies: Past & Present|page=55}}</ref> but others, such as [[Romila Thapar]], believe them to have been indigenous.<ref>{{cite book|last=Thapar|first=Romila|author-link=Romila Thapar|title=Ancient Indian Social History: Some Interpretations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fK3VTUrWsD0C|year=1978|page=149|publisher=Orient Blackswan|isbn=978-81-250-0808-8}}</ref> The [[Puranas|Puranic]] Abhiras occupied the territories of [[Herat]]; they are invariably juxtaposed with the Kalatoyakas and [[Harita]]s, the peoples of Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite book|first=Sudāmā |last=Miśra |title=Janapada state in ancient India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dua1AAAAIAAJ |year=1973 |publisher=Bhāratīya Vidyā Prakāśana}}</ref>
Sunil Kumar Bhattacharya says that the Abhiras are mentioned in the first-century work of [[classical antiquity]], the ''Periplus of the Erythraean Sea''. He considers them to be a race rather than a tribe.<ref name="Bhattacharya1996p126">{{cite book |title=Krishna&nbsp;— Cult in Indian Art |first=Sunil Kumar |last=Bhattacharya |publisher=M.D. Publications |year=1996 |isbn=9788175330016 |page=126 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SyyNIL7Ug2kC}}</ref> Scholars such as [[Ramaprasad Chanda]] believe that they were [[Indo-Aryan peoples]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Ramaprasad |last=Chanda |author-link=Ramaprasad Chanda |title=The Indo-Aryan races: a study of the origin of Indo-Aryan people and institutions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h-bkVF3kXGQC|year=1969 |publisher=Indian Studies: Past & Present|page=55}}</ref> but others, such as [[Romila Thapar]], believe them to have been indigenous.<ref>{{cite book|last=Thapar|first=Romila|author-link=Romila Thapar|title=Ancient Indian Social History: Some Interpretations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fK3VTUrWsD0C|year=1978|page=149|publisher=Orient Blackswan|isbn=978-81-250-0808-8}}</ref> The [[Puranas|Puranic]] Abhiras occupied the territories of [[Herat]]; they are invariably juxtaposed with the Kalatoyakas and [[Harita]]s, the peoples of Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite book|first=Sudāmā |last=Miśra |title=Janapada state in ancient India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dua1AAAAIAAJ |year=1973 |publisher=Bhāratīya Vidyā Prakāśana}}</ref>


According to Jayant Gadkari tribes such as Vrusni, Andhaka, Satvatas and Abhiras after a period of long conflicts came to be known as Yadavas.<ref name="Society and Religion">{{cite book|author= Jayant GadKari |title=Society and Religion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zst_7qaatp8C&q=Yadavas|volume=53|year=1991|publisher=Gopson Papers|page=184|isbn=9788171547432}}</ref>
Jayant Gadkari assumes that after long period of conflict tribes such as Vrusni, Andhaka, Satvatas and Abhiras were united and may came to be known as Yadavas.<ref name="Society and Religion">{{cite book|author= Jayant GadKari |title=Society and Religion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zst_7qaatp8C&q=Yadavas|volume=53|year=1991|publisher=Gopson Papers|page=184|isbn=9788171547432}}</ref>


In the Padma-puranas and certain literary works, the Abhiras are referred to as belonging to the race of Krishna.<ref>{{cite book |first= Dr Ganga Ram |last= Garg | page = 113 |title= Encyclopaedia of Hindu world |year= 1992 |publisher= Concept Publishing|isbn= 9788170223740 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=w9pmo51lRnYC&pg=PA113}}</ref>
There is no certainty regarding the occupational status of the Abhiras, with ancient texts sometimes referring to them as warriors, pastoral and cowherders but at other times as plundering tribes.<ref>{{cite book |first=Aditya |last=Malik |chapter=The Puskara Mahatmya: A Short Report |page=200 |title=The History of Sacred Places in India As Reflected in Traditional Literature |editor-first=Hans |editor-last=Bakker |location=Leiden |year=1990 |isbn=9789004093188 |publisher=BRILL and the International Association of Sanskrit Studies |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wPgBdyxD5MkC&pg=PA200}}</ref>
Abhiras were primarily cowherders and pastoral, some Abhiras also served as warriors.<ref>{{cite book |first=Aditya |last=Malik |chapter=The Puskara Mahatmya: A Short Report |page=200 |title=The History of Sacred Places in India As Reflected in Traditional Literature |editor-first=Hans |editor-last=Bakker |location=Leiden |year=1990 |isbn=9789004093188 |publisher=BRILL and the International Association of Sanskrit Studies |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wPgBdyxD5MkC&pg=PA200}}</ref>


Along with the [[Vrishni]]s, the [[Yadava#The Satvatas|Satvatas]] and the [[Yadava]]s, the Abhiras were followers of the Vedas, who worshipped [[Krishna]], the head and preceptor of these tribes.<ref>{{cite book|last=Radhakrishnan|first=S.|title=Identity And Ethos|date=2007|publisher=Orient Paperbacks|isbn=978-8-12220-455-1|pages=31–32|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XJTDELuvZKsC&pg=PA31}}</ref><ref name="garg">{{cite book |first= Dr Ganga Ram |last= Garg | page = 113 |title= Encyclopaedia of Hindu world |year= 1992 |publisher= Concept Publishing|isbn= 9788170223740 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=w9pmo51lRnYC&pg=PA113}}</ref>
Along with the [[Vrishni]]s, the [[Yadava#The Satvatas|Satvatas]] and the [[Yadava]]s, the Abhiras were followers of the Vedas, who worshipped [[Gopal]], considered to be [[Krishna]], the head and preceptor of these tribes.<ref>{{cite book|last=Radhakrishnan|first=S.|title=Identity And Ethos|date=2007|publisher=Orient Paperbacks|isbn=978-8-12220-455-1|pages=31–32|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XJTDELuvZKsC&pg=PA31}}</ref><ref name="garg">{{cite book |first= Dr Ganga Ram |last= Garg | page = 113 |title= Encyclopaedia of Hindu world |year= 1992 |publisher= Concept Publishing|isbn= 9788170223740 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=w9pmo51lRnYC&pg=PA113}}</ref>


In archaeological inscriptions Abhiras are mentioned as belonging to the race of Lord Krishna.<ref>{{cite book |first= Padmaja |last= T | page = 34 |title= Ay velirs and Krsna|year= 2002 |publisher= University of Mysore|isbn= 9788170173984 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=pzgaS1wRnl8C&q=abhiras&pg=RA1-PA34}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first= Dr Ganga Ram |last= Garg | page = 113 |title= Enyclopedia of Hindu world |year= 1992 |publisher= Concept Publishing|isbn= 9788170223740 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=w9pmo51lRnYC&pg=PA113}}</ref> According to [[K. P. Jayaswal]] the abhiras of Gujarat are the same race as Rastrikas of Emperor Asoka and Yadavas of the Mahabharatha.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gPAdAAAAMAAJ&q=Abhiras| title=The Glory that was Gūrjaradeśa, Volume 1| publisher= Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan | work= History | author= Mularaja solanki | year=1943| pages=30}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.499265| title= Hindu Polity| publisher= Bangalore Print | work= History | author= K P Jayaswal | pages=141}}</ref>
===Connection to Ahir===
===Connection to Ahir===
Since the period of Sanskritisation and formation of Arya Samaj many groups have claimed modern day Ahirs to be descended from Abhiras, some of which appear to be historical while claim of others is completely unfounded.

According to Ganga Ram Garg, the modern-day [[Ahir]] caste are descendants of Abhira people and the term ''Ahir'' is the [[Prakrit]] form of the [[Sanskrit]] term ''Abhira''.<ref name="garg"/> Bhattacharya says that the terms ''Ahir'', ''Ahar'' and ''Gaoli'' are current forms of the word ''Abhira''.<ref name="Bhattacharya1996p126"/> This view gets support in many writings.
According to Ganga Ram Garg, the modern-day [[Ahir]] caste are descendants of Abhira people and the term ''Ahir'' is the [[Prakrit]] form of the [[Sanskrit]] term ''Abhira''.<ref name="garg"/> Bhattacharya says that the terms ''Ahir'', ''Ahar'' and ''Gaoli'' are current forms of the word ''Abhira''.<ref name="Bhattacharya1996p126"/> This view gets support in many writings.


[[M. S. A. Rao]] and historians such as P. M. Chandorkar and T. Padmaja have explained that epigraphical and historical evidence exists for equating the Ahirs with the ancient Abhiras and [[Yadava]] tribe.<ref>{{Cite book|first = Sumit | last = Guha |title=Environment and Ethnicity in India, 1200–1991| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=GSa5blriOYcC&pg=PA47|year = 2006| publisher = University of Cambridge|page=47|isbn=978-0-521-02870-7}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| first = M. S. A. | last=Rao |title=Social Movements in India|volume=1| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=SODZAAAAMAAJ|year=1978 | publisher =Manohar|pages=124, 197, 210}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | first = Padmaja|last= T. |title=Temples of Kr̥ṣṇa in South India: History, Art, and Traditions in Tamilnāḍu|url =https://books.google.com/books?id=pzgaS1wRnl8C&pg=RA1-PA35|year = 2001 | publisher = Archaeology Dept., University of Mysore|pages=25, 34|isbn=978-8-170-17398-4}}</ref>
[[M. S. A. Rao]] and historians such as P. M. Chandorkar and T. Padmaja have explained that epigraphical and historical evidence exists for equating the Ahirs with the ancient Abhiras.<ref>{{Cite book|first = Sumit | last = Guha |title=Environment and Ethnicity in India, 1200–1991| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=GSa5blriOYcC&pg=PA47|year = 2006| publisher = University of Cambridge|page=47|isbn=978-0-521-02870-7}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| first = M. S. A. | last=Rao |title=Social Movements in India|volume=1| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=SODZAAAAMAAJ|year=1978 | publisher =Manohar|pages=124, 197, 210}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | first = Padmaja|last= T. |title=Temples of Kr̥ṣṇa in South India: History, Art, and Traditions in Tamilnāḍu|url =https://books.google.com/books?id=pzgaS1wRnl8C&pg=RA1-PA35|year = 2001 | publisher = Archaeology Dept., University of Mysore|pages=25, 34|isbn=978-8-170-17398-4}}</ref>


==Rule of the Konkan==
==Rule of the Konkan==

Revision as of 17:40, 24 March 2021

The Abhira people were a tribe which used to live in Ancient India, the tribe was mainly associated with cattles and cowherding, the chief of the tribe can be compared or connoted to a Kshatriya. [1][2][3][4] It finds mention in Puranas and the epic Mahabharata as well as Srimad Bhagavad.[5]

Etymology

Etymologically, he who has no fear is called an Abhira.[6] In Sanskrit, A is a prefix to imply opposite of any word and bhīru(भीरु) means afraid.

History

Sunil Kumar Bhattacharya says that the Abhiras are mentioned in the first-century work of classical antiquity, the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. He considers them to be a race rather than a tribe.[7] Scholars such as Ramaprasad Chanda believe that they were Indo-Aryan peoples.[8] but others, such as Romila Thapar, believe them to have been indigenous.[9] The Puranic Abhiras occupied the territories of Herat; they are invariably juxtaposed with the Kalatoyakas and Haritas, the peoples of Afghanistan.[10]

Jayant Gadkari assumes that after long period of conflict tribes such as Vrusni, Andhaka, Satvatas and Abhiras were united and may came to be known as Yadavas.[11]


Abhiras were primarily cowherders and pastoral, some Abhiras also served as warriors.[12]

Along with the Vrishnis, the Satvatas and the Yadavas, the Abhiras were followers of the Vedas, who worshipped Gopal, considered to be Krishna, the head and preceptor of these tribes.[13][14]

Connection to Ahir

Since the period of Sanskritisation and formation of Arya Samaj many groups have claimed modern day Ahirs to be descended from Abhiras, some of which appear to be historical while claim of others is completely unfounded.

According to Ganga Ram Garg, the modern-day Ahir caste are descendants of Abhira people and the term Ahir is the Prakrit form of the Sanskrit term Abhira.[14] Bhattacharya says that the terms Ahir, Ahar and Gaoli are current forms of the word Abhira.[7] This view gets support in many writings.

M. S. A. Rao and historians such as P. M. Chandorkar and T. Padmaja have explained that epigraphical and historical evidence exists for equating the Ahirs with the ancient Abhiras.[15][16][17]

Rule of the Konkan

From 203 to 270 the Abhiras ruled over the whole of the Deccan Plateau as a paramount power. The Abhiras were the immediate successors of the Satavahanas.[18]

Rule of the Junagadh

Uparkot fort rediscovered by Chudasama ruler Graharipu

The Chudasama dynasty, originally of Abhira clan from Sind wielded great influence around Junagadh from the 875 A.D. onwards when they consolidated themselves at Vanthali (ancient Vamanasthali) close to Girnar under their - King Ra Chuda.[19][20]

A Chudasama prince styled Graharipu and ruling at Vanthali near Junagadh is described in the Dyashraya-Kavya of Hemachandra as an Abhira and a Yadava.[21]

Abhiras of Gupta empire

During the reign of Samudragupta (c. 350), the Abhiras lived in Rajputana and Malava on the western frontier of the Gupta empire. Historian Dineshchandra Sircar thinks of their original abode was the area of Abhiravan, between Herat and Kandahar, although this is disputed.[22] Their occupation of Rajasthan also at later date is evident from the Jodhpur inscription of Samvat 918 that the Abhira people of the area were a terror to their neighbours, because of their violent demeanour.[22] Abhiras of Rajputana were sturdy and regarded as Mlecchas, and carried on anti-Brahmanical activities. As a result, life and property became unsafe. Pargiter[who?] points to the Pauranic tradition that the Vrishnis and Andhakas, while retreating northwards after the Kurukshetra War from their western home in Dwarka and Gujarat, were attacked and broken up by the rude Abhiras of Rajasthan.[23] They were the supporters of the Duryodhana[24][25] and Kauravas, and in the Mahabharata,[26] Abhir, Gopa, Gopal[27] and Yadavas are all synonyms.[28][29][30] They defeated the hero of Mahabharatha war, and did spare him when he disclosed the identity of the members of the family of Sri Krishna.[31] The Gopas, whom Krishna had offered to Duryodhana to fight in his support when he himself joined Arjuna's side, were no other than the Yadavas themselves, who were also the Abhiras.[32][33][34] The Abhiras also have been described as Vrata Kshatriyas.

The Abhiras did not stop in Rajasthan; some of their clans moved south and west reaching Saurashtra and Maharashtra and taking service under the Satavahana dynasty and the Western Satraps.[35] Also founded a kingdom in the northern part of the Maratha country, and an inscription of the ninth year of the Abhira king Ishwarsena.[36][37]

See also

References

  1. ^ Bhattacharya, Sunil Kumar (1996). Krishna-cult in Indian art. M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd. p. 126. ISBN 978-81-7533-001-6.
  2. ^ Mehta, B. H. (1994). Gonds of the Central Indian Highlands. Vol. II. New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company. pp. 568–569.
  3. ^ Soni, Lok Nath (2000). The Cattle and the Stick: An Ethnographic Profile of the Raut of Chhattisgarh. Anthropological Survey of India, Government of India, Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Department of Culture. pp. 11–14–16. ISBN 978-81-85579-57-3.
  4. ^ Shome, Ayan (2014). Dialogue & Daggers: Notion of Authority and Legitimacy in the Early Delhi Sultanate (1192 C.E. – 1316 C.E.). Vij Books India Pvt Ltd, 2014. p. 43. ISBN 9789384318468.
  5. ^ Dhume, Anant Ramkrishna Sinai (1986). The Cultural History of Goa from 10000 B.C.-1352 A.D. Ramesh Anant S. Dhume. p. 158.
  6. ^ Soni, Lok Nath (2000). The Cattle and Stick. Anthropological Survey of India. p. 14. ISBN 9788185579573.
  7. ^ a b Bhattacharya, Sunil Kumar (1996). Krishna — Cult in Indian Art. M.D. Publications. p. 126. ISBN 9788175330016.
  8. ^ Chanda, Ramaprasad (1969). The Indo-Aryan races: a study of the origin of Indo-Aryan people and institutions. Indian Studies: Past & Present. p. 55.
  9. ^ Thapar, Romila (1978). Ancient Indian Social History: Some Interpretations. Orient Blackswan. p. 149. ISBN 978-81-250-0808-8.
  10. ^ Miśra, Sudāmā (1973). Janapada state in ancient India. Bhāratīya Vidyā Prakāśana.
  11. ^ Jayant GadKari (1991). Society and Religion. Vol. 53. Gopson Papers. p. 184. ISBN 9788171547432.
  12. ^ Malik, Aditya (1990). "The Puskara Mahatmya: A Short Report". In Bakker, Hans (ed.). The History of Sacred Places in India As Reflected in Traditional Literature. Leiden: BRILL and the International Association of Sanskrit Studies. p. 200. ISBN 9789004093188.
  13. ^ Radhakrishnan, S. (2007). Identity And Ethos. Orient Paperbacks. pp. 31–32. ISBN 978-8-12220-455-1.
  14. ^ a b Garg, Dr Ganga Ram (1992). Encyclopaedia of Hindu world. Concept Publishing. p. 113. ISBN 9788170223740.
  15. ^ Guha, Sumit (2006). Environment and Ethnicity in India, 1200–1991. University of Cambridge. p. 47. ISBN 978-0-521-02870-7.
  16. ^ Rao, M. S. A. (1978). Social Movements in India. Vol. 1. Manohar. pp. 124, 197, 210.
  17. ^ T., Padmaja (2001). Temples of Kr̥ṣṇa in South India: History, Art, and Traditions in Tamilnāḍu. Archaeology Dept., University of Mysore. pp. 25, 34. ISBN 978-8-170-17398-4.
  18. ^ Numismatic Society of India (1991). The Journal of the Numismatic Society of India. Vol. 53. the University of Michigan. pp. 91–95.
  19. ^ Rajan, K. V. Soundara (1985). Junagadh. Archaeological Survey of India, 1985. p. 10.
  20. ^ Sailendra Nath Sen (1 January 1999). Ancient Indian History and Civilization. New Age International. p. 344. ISBN 978-81-224-1198-0. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
  21. ^ Reginald Edward Enthoven (1990). The Tribes and Castes of Bombay, Volume 1. Asian Educational Services. p. 25. ISBN 9788120606302.
  22. ^ a b Sharma, Tej Ram (1989). A political history of the imperial Guptas: from Gupta to Skandagupta. Concept Publishing Company. p. 87. ISBN 978-81-7022-251-4.
  23. ^ Jain, Kailash Chand (1972). Ancient cities and towns of Rajasthan: a study of culture and civilization. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 9788120806696.
  24. ^ Man in India – Google Books. 17 July 2007.
  25. ^ Man in India, Volume 54-page-39
  26. ^ Ancient Nepal
  27. ^ Regmi, D. R. (1 December 1973). Ancient Nepal – D. R. Regmi, Nepal Institute of Asian Studies – Google Books.
  28. ^ Kapoor, Subodh (2002). Encyclopaedia of ancient Indian ... – Subodh Kapoor – Google Books. ISBN 9788177552980.
  29. ^ Rao, M. S. A. (14 December 2006). Social movements and social ... – M. S. A. Rao – Google Books. ISBN 9780333902554.
  30. ^ Rao, M. S. A. (14 December 2006). Social movements and social ... – M. S. A. Rao – Google Books. ISBN 9780333902554.
  31. ^ Singh Yadav, J. N. (28 August 2007). Yadavas through the ages, from ... – J. N. Singh Yadav – Google Books. ISBN 9788185616032.
  32. ^ Man in India – Google Books. 1974.
  33. ^ Shah, Popatlal Govindlal (13 February 2009). Ethnic history of Gujarat – Popatlal Govindlal Shah – Google Books.
  34. ^ Ethnic history of Gujarat
  35. ^ Haryana: studies in history and culture. Kurukshetra University. 1968. p. 44.
  36. ^ Bhattacharya, Sunil Kumar (1996). Krishna-cult in Indian art. M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd. p. 10. ISBN 978-81-7533-001-6.
  37. ^ Majumdar, Ramesh Chandra; Altekar, Anant Sadashiv (1967). Vakataka – Gupta Age Circa 200–550 AD. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 143. ISBN 978-81-208-0026-7.
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