Nakula Goes West The Western Digvijay Part 4 For Eastern Expedition https://facebook/MahabharatKiGalatiyan/posts/538974559548764 For Southern Expedition https://facebook/MahabharatKiGalatiyan/posts/540946116018275 Research on Northern Sea https://facebook/photo.php?fbid=544895442290009&set=pb.440861902693364.-2207520000.1404091222.&type=3&theater https://facebook/MahabharatKiGalatiyan/posts/544588578987362:0 Brief Note: The expeditions posts had stopped after East and South descriptions because I was waiting to read the entire war parvas to recognize the northern and western kings to finalize the stories. But a poster wants us to do the Vanara direction searches as well so I have restarted this series. Nakula’s Western Expedition Nakula had the easiest task of the four brothers. The Western direction had already seen a Yadava expedition where the Pandavas participated. So, Nakula was going into direction, not only he was familiar with but where Pandava arms had triumphed in past. Here in this direction, both Pandu and Arjuna had lead victorious expeditions. On top of that, lots of close Pandava relations were ruling potentates in this region. At same time, Yudhishthara had sent Nakula and Sanjaya on embassy to this region where Nakula and Sanjaya had to use force of arms. In other words, Nakula was extremely confident of achieving his aims. His officers included Kamatha the king of Kambojas and Kampana who had defeated Yavanas in the past on his resume as well as Chanura a king of Yavanas himself. Note: Yavana or Yona is the name later referred to indicate Greeks but the name was known much before Greeks were even venured in these regions in 5rth Cen BC. Yona is also the name the indo-europeans referred to as the ancient northern kingdom of Israel in 8th cen BC. So, the Greeks were not the only Yonas or Yavanas of ancient world. The name also referred to Barley and Barley eaters!! The Puranas indicate that Turvasu, brother to Yayati, whose descendents include Yavanas ruled in North and West of India. Pandu was unable to defeat a Yavana king during his digvijay and Arjuna finished that task of his father some thirty five years later. Sahadeva also encountered Turvasus in south and elsewhere who are also called Yavanas. Nakula left Khandavaprastha with an Akshauhini army and proceeded westwards. He first reached Kartikeya’s favorite place, Rohitaka, modern Rohtak. This region was famous for its cows then and its cows now. Here the Mattamayuras fought Nakula and were defeated. Then Nakula conquered Marwar, this is the desert region in western Haryana not Western and Southern Rajasthan. This is an important point towards impact of environment and of rivers. The Sarasvati was a large river still extant. The region of western Rajasthan like Bikaner and Jodhpur and Jaisalmer (Trikutaka Parvata) were serviced by Sarasvati and thus were not desert regions like we find today. Sarasvati had two major perennial snow fed tributaries, the Shatadru or Satluj from Man sarovar region and Yamuna from Yamanotri glacier. Ganga’s main tributary from west was Chambal River or Charmanavati and minor one was Kalindi. That is the reason why Karna’s casket flowed from Charamnavati River to Ganga and was discovered by Adhiratha in Anga, near modern Bhagalpur. Meanwhile, Satluj or Shatadru was a tributary of Sarsvati and not yet captured by Iravati (Ravi), thus the region now serviced by Satluj did not have river yet and thus, that region was desert. Thus, Marwar or Marrosthali (land of maroo “sand”) literally was in western Haryana and region of Punjab bordering it. That memory of old large region of Hariyana which was desert at one point is known in popular Punjabi legends and culture. So much so, that even in modern day when Punjabi suba was demanded by northern Punjabi leaders, they were ready to give up portions of Western Haryana to any other state as long as they get Ganganagar. This shows the lack of knowledge as well as disconnect of those northern Punjabi leaders. Their ideas were colored by Punjabi legends of past and not reality of the day. Those leaders were so far out of touch that they had never visited these sections of their own state and seen its reality. That section of Western Haryana which was easily conceded to now modern state of Haryana is the richest, most fertile and most grains per sq km region of India. The 10 districts which is 1% of India produce some 10% of entire agricultural output of India. This region which is half the size of Indian Punjab even produces more grains than Punjab. Elect your leaders carefully!! Around 1900 BC, the Kashmir valley which was a huge 15000 sqkm lake at that time had burst, creating the modern Kashmir valley (Dal Lake the remnant of that huge and deep lake Nilamata) an event recorded in legends and stories. That excess water poured out and replenished the rivers Chenab, Jhelum and Ravi and moved their river beds, this event affected the bed of Indus as well moving it away from Kubha (Kabul) and Suvastu (Swat rivers) Rivers and moving it eastwards towards its current bed. The after effects of this huge shift was loss of waters and tributaries to Sarasvati over a long period of time as geological changes are glacial in their effect. Subsequently, Iravati captured Shatadru and thus, is also called Parushni so Satluj moved away from Sarasvati and started moving towards its current river bed, at same time Yamuna was captured by Ganga and merged with Kalindi and moved away from Sarasvati. Sarasvati lost both its main snow fed tributaries, Shatadru and Yamuna and started its decline as a river eventually disappearing and region it fed became desert. At the time of epic, Sarasvati was a viable river and fed by Odhyavati and other such tributaries. The description of Balarama dragging Yamuna 40 miles would be a legend enshrining an ancient water works project that added the waters of Yamuna to Ganga eventually. A human or Sheshanaga hand assisting climatic and geological changes already set in motion. Ravi which was much to the east moved westwards. At time of Battle of ten kings in Rig Veda , Ravi was much closer to Khandavaprastha, Now modern Ravi is 500 kms away from modern Delhi. In 1795, the description of Thomas George makes Ravi some 375 kms from Delhi indicates the westward shift is continuing and assisted by a lot of Canal projects British started c1861 to 1890s. This shifts of river beds in Satluj and multiple movements of Jhelum and Beas rivers, as mapped by Cunningham from 1844 to 1881 show how a desert region literally called Marusthali at time of Epic age is now the granary of India. And the granary of India, the land of Agni vanshis, Sudrakas, Abhiras and later Gurjara Pratiharas is the desert of Modern India, the Maroosthali, the Marwar region. Anyway, Nakula first went to Rohtaka, then proceeded to circumnavigate the Maroosthali and then attack Shairishka or Siriska. This is a large forested region among hills and dales and still houses great variety of fauna. One of the temples to Bhima is located in the Sariska wildlife sanctuary. This region of Kamyakavana of epic age. It was here Jayadratha would try and kidnap Draupadi. Then Nakula clashed with Rajasrishi Akrosha of Mahothha. He was a Kaurava cousin, born in Kuru dynasty. The name Mahottha is preserved in the Mahotha lake in the Jaipur district. Defeating Akrosa in battle, Nakula then moved westwards and defeated Dasarna of the west, then moved against Sivis (in modern Bikaner division and across the modern border in Pakistani Punjab, then he fought and defeated the southern Trigartas which were neighbors of Sivis and Ambashthas. Ambasthas were defeated next as Nakula pushed into Western Punjab. The large region which started near Siriska and continued westwards to modern Indian border and the current Satluj bed was two large forests under the Mastaya King Son of Upacharira Vasu and his son Dvaita (hence Dvaitavana) and Kamyakavana. The region to the north which started near feorzepur and going south merged into the Bikaner division and these forests was the region cleared of forests by Kurus hence called KuruJangala. The region which starts in Ferozepur in Punjab and then includes the districts of Hanumangarh, Churu and Nagaur was the Kingdom of Kuru, the son of Tapati. Over time Kurus lost this region but moved again eastwards and under Hastin reached Ganga and put up a capital there. This region was completely lost to Upacharira Vasu’s son and brother of Satyavati, the Original Matsaya. Yudhishthara had annexed back this large section as Yuvaraja and Dhristrashtra retained some of this region in original partition. Dhritrashtra later states to Duryodhana that what was left by Santanu or even Pandu was tripled in size by Yudhishthara so that half of the kingdom he got was more than the kingdom left by Pandu and so Duryodhana should not be greedy. What this also shows that in the periods of regency under Bheeshma and then Dhritrashtra, large portions of kingdom were lost. Anyway, Nakula was travelling thorough his own kingdom and still very close to his supply lines. He had moved from Delhi to Rohtaka then went to Siriska and then close to Jaipur then moved south to near Chittaur (Southern sivis) then moved back to north next to Kurujangala and tackled Trigartas at what would be modern Kasur then Ambashthas on Ravi river. He then moved against Panchakarshata and Madhyamika nations which is moving Eastwards across Multan and modern Cholistan desert, Jaisalmer and Jodhpur and central Rajasthan. Then leaving his forces there, he took a smaller force, probably rested back at Indraprastha on way and then moved north of Kurukshetra and defeated Vatadhans on Yamuna banks next to Himachal Pradesh. Returning to his army he left in south, he annexed Pushkara from Utsavasanketa group. Pushkara is famous location in Rajasthan and the holder of premier temple to Brahma. UtsavaSanketas were southern Kshatriyas who had emigrated from south and now ruled Pushakara. The Utsavasanketa reference tells us this is Pushkara of Rajasthan and not Pushkara the teerth in north near Afghanistan which is now called Katasraj in Chakwal district of Pakistani Punjab. Then Nakula moved south along Sarasvati defeating Abhiras and Gramaniyas on sea coast. These Gramaniyas are later found in Ceylon indicates a migration at later date. Then Nakula moved westwards and defeated Dhivaras and obviously bypassed Karachi and Sindh coast which were under Krishna’s control and thus, directly attacked the mountaneous Eastern Southern Baluchistan. Moving northwards along Indus, having no issues with Sindhu and Sauvira as well as Southern Shivi kingdoms of his brother-in-law Jayadratha (Sauvira was annexed by Arjuna and gifted to Jayadratha), Nakula now annexed all the kingdoms of southern Punjab and Pathan regions as encapsulated by Panchnada kingdoms and the cities of Uttarajyotisha, Divyakata Nagara and Dwarapalapura. He also annexed Amar Parvata, the mountainous section in middle of Punjab where the local legends still persist that Hanuman dropped portions of Gandhamadan Parvata while taking the mountain to Lakshaman. He then annexed the portions of Southern Afghanistan with defeating Ramatha, Hara and Huna western kingdoms. Many of these were already annexed and conquered by his officers Kampana and Chanura so there was no battle and the kingdoms surrendered on sending just embassies. Having secured most of west, most of rajasthan, Haryana, southern sindh, Baluchistan, sections of NWFP, Nakula then tackled the two super powers in the west, the southern one of Dwarka and northern one of Madra. One included Krishna as the officer and protector and other was his uncle Salya. He send an embassy to Krishna and Krishna accepted overlordship of Yudhishthara. This was his plan anyway. Then he sent an embassy to Madra where his uncle out of love for his nephew also accepted overlordship. Nakula conquered more lands by love than by war. Dakshinatya mentions that Shalya had 100 sons and many many daughters. Three of his or his older brother’s daughters were married to Krishna. His older brother Parvataraja was the one who succeeded as King of Madra and was king who married his sister to Pandu. Salya was a younger brother and not much older than probably Yudhishthara. His older brother later retired to forest and Salya assumed the overlordship. The story of 100 sons could be sons and nephews of the Madra royal family. His older brother’s daughter was married to Sahadeva. Krishna also marries three daughters of Madra King in both Dakishnatya and Padama Purana. But, I don’t remember whether Salya or title Madraraja was used. Puranas and foreign editions add Balarama, Duryodhana, Karna, Yudhishthara et all as his sons-in-laws as well. Having secured Dwarka and Madra alliance, Nakula moved onto the islands in Arabian sea, conquering Maleshhas, Pahlavas, Barbaras, Kiratas, Yavans and Seiestan. Both the region of Seistan in Eastern Iran and the region of Afghanistan to its north was called Setumand and Sarasvati Pradesh (western Saravsati). This region of Setumand and Seistan was wetlands and huge network of dams were built to make this land habitable hence the name Setumand. This would look like a series of island fortresses to any ancient army and Nakula annexed these. This region was very fertile, prosperous and populous and even in 850 AD, Hindu bulwark to expanding Arab empire. Even in 1400 AD when Taimur came down on this region, he massacred the unbelievers and destroyed the network of dams, the lack of human maintenance cursed this region. What is left of that large wetlands which housed millions is a small section of marshes while a region of some 350K sq km or larger than UP, Punjab, Haryana combined was rendered a desert with no population. Taimur is supposed to have killed 17 million people and rendered fertile regions in Sinkiang in North and east and Seistan in South west uninhabitable to this day. He had similar impact on the populations of Amu Darya region where till this day Parya the westernmost Hindi dialect is spoken by few survivors. After annexing the islands and securing the treasure, Nakula returned to Indraprastha with his collected treasure carried by Ten thousand elephants. Actually Geeta Press states Ten Thousand elephants, while India Press edition states Twenty thousand Camels. I would go with India Press edition as the Sanskrita sloka mentions Ushra Krichha and not Gaja, hastin, mriga, rukma or other elephant terms Thus Nakula returned home after an easy outing in the western regions already impressed with Pandava arms and filled with relations. The real feats of Nakula were the island wins and that have not been given much notice by the Ganga press editors or Critical press editors. The decision not to use the west of British India or East of Ganga editions rob the critical edition of various expansions of Mahabharata which include several Persian mahabharatas, Armenian texts as well as amazing set of legends recorded by Greeks under Nearchus, Megasthenese and later western adventurers like Burton and Cunningham. The legends of Harita and Matsayas of Baluchistan. The legends of Lanka of the West and Ramakupa legends (the oasis wells of deserts in eastern Iran are called Ramakoopas till 1850s atleast). Also ignored are the Mahabharatas like Ahom Mahabharata, the Siviratta Mahabharata, the Mithila, Pura Gandhara and Vaisali Mahabharata as well as Haripunjaya Mahabharata. Siviratta here is the modern Shan States of Burma/Myanmar, while Mithila & Purva Gandhara are the modern Yunnan province of China and Haripunjaya is Northern Thailand where there is still remains of ancient cities of Indraprastha and Hastinapur. :-) The conquest may be easy but Nakula should not be underestimated. He was a very powerful warrior in his own right. In Garwhal Mahabharata, he is one of the most destructive warriors who kills half of the Kaurava armies himself. I had started a post on Garwhal legends and Garwhal Mahabharata and will post some legends from that locale. https://facebook/MahabharatKiGalatiyan/posts/502541846525369
Posted on: Mon, 30 Jun 2014 05:02:50 +0000
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