Kuru Pancala
Transcript of Kuru Pancala
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Kuru-PancalaAuthor(s): F. E. PargiterReviewed work(s):Source: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, No. 1 (Jan., 1920),pp. 99-102Published by: Cambridge University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25209578 .
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KIJIUT-l'ANCALA O??
MS. Brit. Mus. 724, xvii, No. 17, emanates from him ; likewise
apoem
in honour ofthe
famous Karaitephilosopher
Aaron
b. Ulijah (1300-GO), his contemporary, beginning pns* JV22
nbnpn jron,with the accr. bxinw m p TO?' (printed in
Aaron's Keter Torah, Eupatoria, 18GG, behind the editor's
Introduction).
Accordingly Moses b. Samuel was a Karaite, having been
at the same time the only representative of this sect in
Palestine at that time. The Karaites flourished in the Holy
Land about 940-1060, but afterwards no name of importance
is known from amongst them. The Karaite traveller Samuel
b. David found in Jerusalem in IG12 altogether twenty
seven of his fellow-sectaries (see Gurlaud, bxiET TT3J, i, 12) ;
likewise small was their number also later in the eighteenth
century (seeI.e., 3G, 48 ;
Jerusalem,
ed. Luncz, vi, 210 ;
Hastings, Emy. of Rel. and Ethics, vii, 607"). The example of
Moses shows now that the spiritual life of the Karaites in
Palestine was not entirely extinct even after their period of
flourishing. Yet it is possible that Moses had raised himself
to an intellectual height only through his stay in Damascus,
where in the Middle Ages there existed a flourishing Karaite
community. At any rate Mann's publication is to be
appreciated also in this direction, and it would be desirable
that he should pay attention to the other poems of Moses
b. Samuel still preserved.Samuel Poznanski.
Warsaw.
KU It?-TANCA LA
Much has been written about the Kuru-Pa?c?ilas and
theories have been put forward about them, but it may be
well to show what historical tradition discloses about them.
As pointed out iu former papers,2 in the Pfiru or Paurava
1Similar acrostics aro to ho found also in somo of fin- pnrm? pub
lished by Mann (Nos. II and IV).
* JKAS. 1010. p. 21 ; HJU, pp. 2S:j 4, 288-9.
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loo KCIUI-PANCALA
race arose the famous king Bharata, and his descendants
were the Bharatas. One of them,Ajamidha, king
of
Mastin?pura, divided his territories among his three sons and
so formed the three kingdoms of Hastin?pura, N. Paiicfila,
and S. Paiicfila. Paiicfila wasoriginally
a nickname of certain
princes of N. Paiicfila and in time superseded Krivi, the old
name of that country. The names of the royal families were
commonly extended to designate their peoples and countries.1
Afterwards in the HastiiiFipura dynasty arose king Kuril,2
and his descendants were the Kurus:l or Kauravas. The
Bharatas thus comprised the three families of the Kurus,
N. Cancillas and S. Paiiefilas ; the N. Paiicfdas producedthe
two sub-families of the Sn?jayns and Sotnakas, and the Kurus
afterwards developed the sub-family of the P?ndavas.
In the Pan (lavas' time Drona conquered Pancfila, kept
N. Paiicfila for himself, and transferred its king Drupada and
his entourage to S. Pancfila. With Drupadawent the
Snijayas and Somalias. Paiicfila then comprised all the
country from Ahicchattra to Kfimpilyaand to the 11.Chambal,
N. Pancfila being the portion north of the Gangesand
S. Paiicfila that south of the river.4
When the Pfindavas were victorious in thegreat
Bharata
battle, Yudhisthira gained the Kuru throne, and he and his
successors became kings of the Kurus.5 So far the Kurus,
the N. Paiicfdas and S. Paiiefilas were distinct.
His sixth successor is said to have abandoned Ilastinfipura,
because it was carried away by the (.langes,and he moved to
Kausfimbi, which he made his capital.15 The reason is absurd,
' M indi as we speak of Rhodesia and the Rhodesiaos.2
His name has nothing to do with Kriri, which existed long
before him.a
These Knnis have nothing li> ?lowith the Hitara Km ns. It was not
uncommon for persons to have the same names as countries and peoples,
cf. e.g. Ivirata, I'astyavant, and I'laksa in the Vedic Index, and also
Aja. Valsa, etc.*
M Rb. i. /.W, 5?07 I?.
MHh. \iv,A\'\ 2<>7i>; xv. .?\ 1012 : xvii, /, S : vio.
c Vjivu W. 271. Malsya Sal. TS ??. My Dynast us of the Kali Age.
pp. :>. ?r?.
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KUItir-PANCALA KM
because, if that were the whole truth, he could have chosen
some other town near by as his capital, and there was no
necessity to move more than 300 miles south across S. PalicCiIa
to Kaus?mb?. Manifestly he abandoned all the Kuru territory
in the northern part of the Ganges-Jumna doab, and there
can be no doubt that that longmove was not voluntary but
was the result of severe pressure.
That there was such pressure is suggested by the early
chapters of the Mah?ibh?irata, which, though in ridiculously
fabulous form, brahmanic on its very face, yet seem to be
based on actual occurrences. The purport is this there was
aNaga kingdom with Taksasilit as its capital, it came into
direct conflict with Ilastinfipura in the reign of Yudhislhiras
successor Pariksit II, he was killed, and his son, Janarne
jayaIII, defeated the
Nagas
but made
peace.'
This
suggeststhat the intervening Panjab kingdoms, the Sivis, Madras,
Kaikeyas, Sauviras, etc., which playso
prominenta
part in
the epic, had fallen, and it is not improbable after the great
slaughter of princes and ksatriyas in the Bhftrata battle.
If so, Ilastinfipurawas face to face with danger from the
north-west.
Apart from this explanation, however, the fact remains ofthe abandonment of Ilastinfipura and the Kuru territory and
the retreat to Kaus?mbi. That mixed up the Kurus with the
S. Pancfilas, and the newkingdom became that of Kurus
and Pahc?las, the united Kuru-Pa?cfila nation.2 It is that
nation which is mentioned in the Brahman as and among
whom the great Br?hmanas werecomposed."' That event
took place rather inore than a century after the great battle.
It shows when and where those works were formed and
fixes an upper limit for the period of their composition. The
political conditions described above reveal why those books
have so little to say about the Panjab nations that are ao
1MBh. i, J,r>, 1780 to ',',, 1807 ; 50, 2007 to OS, 2175.
*N. Pnneiila
apparentlycontinued to exist
separately.3Vedie India i, p. 105.
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102 ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY
prominent in the Mahfibh?rata, and the books corroborate the
conditions.This is the simple explanation of the united Kuru-Pa?cfdas.
It elucidates the various points noticed under the words
Kuru, Paiicfila, etc., in the Vedic Index. Historical tradition
thus makes clear what brahmanical books leave in uncertainty.
P. E. Pargiter.
l?OYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY
It is hoped to reopen the regular work of the Royal Asiatic
Society, which has been interrupted by the move, bya
receptionto be held on March 30 in the new
premisesof the
Society, 74 Grosvenor Street, W. 1. The Libraries will be
open for students ami for the loan of books immediately after
Easter. The new house is a handsome and commodious
building, with a comfortable lounge and Council room, a
large lecture room, and library in which the books will be
arrauged according to the countries with which they deal.
The work of re-cataloguing is in progress, and the Assistant
Librarian will be constantly in attendance to get the books
required by members. There is a silence room tor students
wishing to copy or collate books and manuscripts. It is hoped
that the advantages offered by the newpremises will not only
make 74 Grosvenor Street a morefrequent place of resort by
ourpresent members, but will lead to a
large increase of
membership,so that the Society, now
approachingits
hundredth anniversary, may be looked upon as the natural
centre of Oriental studies and Oriental interests in London.