লিখেছেনঃ Shamsuzzoha Manik and Shamsul Alam Chanchal, আপডেটঃ July 16, 2019, 12:00 AM, Hits: 1104

Table of Contents

       Preface
1.    Indus Civilization and its decline
2.    Vedic people and the inception of religious reform movement
3.    Destruction of dams or Vṛitras by Vedic people
4.    Dam-based irrigation system in the Indus-Saraswati Valley
5.    Nature of relationship between Indus Civilization and Ṛgveda
6.    Society, religion and state in the Indus Civilization
7.    Impact of Vedic victory as well as fall of Indus Civilization in South Asia

 

Preface

For long we have been engaged in finding the relationship between Indus civilization and Ṛgveda. A book titled "The Aryans and the Indus Civilization" written jointly by us was published in 1995 from Dhaka.¹  There we have tried to find out the nature of relationship between the Ṛgveda and Indus Civilization. Another book titled "Arzajan O Sindhu Sabhyata" (Aryan People and Indus Civilization)²  written by both of us in Bengali dealing with basically the same issue but with more details and incorporating some more issues e.g., the epics Mahābhārata and Rāmāyaṇa, was published in 2003. In both the books, written by us, we have rejected the Aryan Invasion Theory and explained Ṛgveda as the product of a religious reform movement that took place during the declining period of Indus civilization, which led to a civil war.

After publishing the two books many years have passed. Further field works and investigations carried by archaeologists and other scholars of various disciplines have made them discard many old ideas as regards the Aryan invasion and Aryan migration theory as well as shed new lights on the emergence and decline of Indus civilization which has helped enhance and enrich our ideas further.  

This monograph is, in a sense, an updated extract of our past works with some new thoughts and some new dimensions, such as a brief assessment on the impact of Vedic movement as well as that of the fall of Indus civilization on the later history and society of Indian subcontinent.

 

1.    Indus Civilization and its decline

The Indus civilization, also known as Harappan civilization, which had flourished in numerous sites distributed in Afghanistan, Pakistan and north-west part of India from 2600 to 1900 BC, developed an amazingly cultural uniformity, mass production of crafts, internal and external complex trade-mechanism. It is remarkable for attaining a high degree of sophistication, standardization and utilitarianism, manifested in its excellent settlement planning, monumental buildings, impressive and aesthetic architecture, drainage systems, hydraulic engineering and water structures. It is also recognized for highly developed sanitary arrangements, stamp seals, script, weights and measures, pottery, art on seals, in metal images, stone sculptures, statuettes of faience, steatite and terracotta figurines, jewellery of gold, silver, copper, gemstones, ivory, shell, bone, clay, terracotta, objects of game and playthings in different materials, and implements and equipment of metals, stone, shell, bone and ceramic as used in many other activities.³   

The Indus civilization sites have been spread out over 700,000 square kilometers (R.S. Bisht mentioned this figure; whereas J.M. Kenoyer has mentioned the area to be 680,000 square kilometers, D.P. Agrawal estimates it to be 1.5 million square kilometers, which is mentioned by Bisht)⁴   of north-western South Asia at over 1500 settlements (Michel Danino has given a figure of 1140 in total based on region-wise break-up and carefully tabulating them, which is referred by Bisht).⁵   It occupies an area twice the size of contemporary ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia for 700 years. The area covered from Sutkagendor, on the Makran coast situated on the border of Iran and covering the total area of Pakistan, to Alamgirpur and Hulas, Mandi and Shamlinagar on the Hindon in upper doab of western Uttar Pradesh also in Mandovali and Bhargarh in Delhi, and Shortughai (in Afghanistan) in the north to Daimabad in western Maharashtra.⁶  Considering its extent beyond the Indus Valley and distribution of large number of its settlements along the Ghaggar-Hakra River valley, which was once the Saraswati River, the total area covered by it is called sometimes as Greater Indus Valley⁷  or Indus-Saraswati Valley and the civilization as Indus-Saraswati civilization.⁸

It is very interesting as well as intriguing that such a large and powerful civilization had no civic structure definitely identified as palace or temple, as well as no royal cemetery. Moreover, the presence of meager numbers and low quality of tools used in war is also a surprising characteristic of the civilization. Considering all these characteristics, who were the rulers and how the state to such a large extent was administered is still a question that remains largely unanswered. At the same time absence of any large iconography relevant to the rulers of the civilization is also a question, when compared to other contemporary civilizations. What was the role of religion and religious forces as well as the military class in the civilization can only be guessed from the finds of archaeological and other scientific study vastly carried out last quarter of a century. The limited numbers of scripts largely depicted on seals, sealing, tablets and other objects are still not deciphered. All these unanswered issues led us to the question that who are the people that built up this magnificent civilization, what was the main cause of decline of the civilization, what was the role of different social groups during the crisis of the civilization and what happened to the large numbers of people of the civilization after its decline?

To find out the main cause of decline of the civilization several studies have been done and still being done by several scholars. In this connection regarding the climate of the Harappan period very little data is available at present. From Rajasthan salt lakes Gurdeep Singh and Enzel et al. separately collected data and reached different conclusions. Gurdeep Singh proposed favorable climatic conditions during the Harappan phase,⁹  whereas Enzel et al. proposed that the Harappan Civilization flourished when the climatic conditions were not very conducive for the human cultures.¹⁰  Several other scholars worked on the climate of the Harappan period and concluded differently.¹¹  However, we can take the view that climate of this region was not markedly different in the third millennium BC from the one we have today.¹²  In arid climatic condition, the Indus and Saraswati river basins with their tributaries provided a strong agricultural base for the Harappans, where they could raise not only sufficient food grains for the Harappan population but also had surplus production. It can be assumed that the surplus agricultural production was the main basis for the huge population and large numbers of settlements in the region, as well as the advancement in technology and art. Granaries found in the Harappan settlements support this view. These two basins are sufficiently supportive for wheat and barley cultivation. The crops cultivated in Saurashtra and North Gujarat have vast tract of pastureland. Such varied ecological conditions occupied by the Harappans provided them a lot of subsistence advantage. If one agricultural zone failed due to a natural calamity, they had another at their disposal to support them.¹³

At the upper reaches the Indus system consists of the Indus and five other rivers, the Jhelum, the Chenab, the Ravi, the Beas and the Sutlej. The absence of Harappan sites on the Sutlej (except in its uppermost course along the Siswaliks) and on the Yamuna shows that these rivers were not flowing in their present channels during Harappan times. Indeed, the Sutlej was not flowing in its present course until the late medieval period. There is geomorphic, archaeological and folkloristic evidence to show that both the Sutlej and the Yamuna were flowing into the Ghaggar channel in the past, that they shifted to their present channels during Late Harappan times and early medieval times, respectively.¹⁴  Present Ghaggar-Hakra drainage which is the upper reaches of the once Saraswati River, is to the east on the border between Pakistan and India. The Ghaggar was a mighty river in the past and had on an average a bed eight kilometers wide. The Sutlej, before assuming its present course, was braided into a multitude of channels. This fact is also recorded in the Mahabharata in the form of a legend - when Vaśiṣṭha threw himself into the Satudri (Sutlej) it broke into a hundred streams. Ghaggar was once a perennial river and it is possible that it could have flowed directly into the Ran of Kutch, without meeting the Indus. The palaeo-channels beyond Marot indicate such a possibility,¹⁵  and it is supported by the Ṛgveda which says that the Saraswati flowed directly into the sea (VII/95/2). Recent multi-disciplinary research work led the scholars infer that the river Saraswati originated in the Himalayas and dried up during 2000-1500 BC, the reason mentioned due to the tectonic and palaeo-climatic changes.¹⁶   At the south the channel of Saraswati was thought earlier to discharge in Wahinda and Nara channel. However, recent studies shows different results and present mapped course of the Saraswati is about 40 km east of the river Nara and finally discharged to the Arabian Sea joining the Ran of Kachchh.¹⁷  Recent archaeoclimatological research conducted in the upper Indus, in the region of Harappa, found that the rivers failed to deliver the usual abundance of water at about 2100 BC.¹⁸   In the Cholistan desert of Pakistan, Rafique Mughal has carried out intensive explorations along the present dry bed of the Hakra River in Pakistani Punjab. The explorations have provided overwhelming archaeological evidence of various channels at least from the fourth to the first millennium B.C. He emphasized that hydrographic factors profoundly influenced the life history of the Indus Civilization and changes in the course of Hakra River were the major cause of its decline in Cholistan.¹⁹  In the following sections we will try to relate the long social crisis caused by the change of river courses, drying up of rivers, etc. at the declining period of the Indus Civilization to the Vedic movement documented in the Ṛgveda that happened in the Indus-Saraswati Valley.

 

2.    Vedic people and the inception of religious reform movement

A careful study of the Ṛgveda reveals that the composers of the hymns of the Ṛgveda are not invaders or immigrant, rather an indigenous group of people of the north-western part of South Asia, who had a civilized and urban background. Nowhere in the Ṛgveda is mentioned that the Aryan people or Āryas are foreign to the Indus-Saraswati region, rather it mentions the areas of the riverine regions of Sindhu (Indus), Saraswati (Ghaggar-Hakra), Parushṇí (Ravi), Vipásá (Beas), Ṣatudrí (Sutlej), Drishadvatí (Chautang), Asikní (Chenab), Vitastá (Jhelum), Kubhá (Kabul) , Gomatí (Gomal), Ṣwetí (Swat),  Krumu (Kurram), Yamuná, etc. with which they are associated. These are the major rivers or their tributaries in the Indus-Saraswati plain in the north-western part of South Asia and few others are outside the plain. There are other river names like Sarayu, Ápayá, Tṛishṭámá, Susartu, Mehatnu, Marudvṛidhá, Rasá, Anitabhá and Ganga in the Ṛgveda. Excepting Ganga (Ganges) most of the rivers mentioned in the Ṛgveda demonstrate the names of the rivers encompassed by the Indus-Saraswati valley in the Harappan Civilization. It can be associated easily with the background of the priests who composed the hymns of the Ṛgveda in the same region.

The priests who composed the hymns of the Ṛgveda are familiar with the agriculture (I/117/2I, Hymn IV/57, X/101/3, etc.), craft production (IV/2/14, etc.) weaving (II/3/6, X/I06/1, etc.), metal work (VI/3/4, IX/112/2, etc.), medical science (I/117/4) and surgery (I/116/15), astronomy (I/25/8, I/164/12, I/84/15, etc.), houses with many columns [("a mansion of a thousand columns" (V/62/6)] and doors ("vast comprehensive thousand-doored dwelling" VII/88/5), cities (I/189/2, VII/3/7, VII/15/14, etc.), boats (I/46/7, I/97/7, etc.), long distant and overseas trade [I/25/7, I/48/3, "as (merchants) covetous of gain crowd the ocean, (in vessels,) on a voyage" (I/56/2)]  and merchant (I/112/11), etc. They were also highly developed in literary and philosophical aspects in remote past.

In general, the Vedic priests introduce themselves as Āryas. However, it is interesting to note that most of the enemy names mentioned in the Ṛgveda in the Vedic war are from the same root or kinship to the Vedic Aryan names and also most of the enemy gods are the gods of the Vedic priests. The following table gives an example that shows that enemy names and the Vedic names are of same origins:

Enemy Names	Vedic Names
Ahi - Enemy of Vedic people (I/102/3, II/12/11, IV/17/1)	Ahirbudhnya – A Vedic god (I/186/5, II/31/6)
Ahīśuva - Indra, the Vedic god, slew him (VIII/32/2)	Ahirbudhnya - Same as above
Arbuda - Indra cast down and slew him (II/11/20, II/14/4)	Arbuda - A Vedic priest, composer of hymn X/94
Bṛihadratha - Indra crushed him (X/49/6)	Bṛihaduktha - A priest composer of the hymns X/54 to 56
Bṛisaya - Whose offspring had been slain by Agni and Soma, the Vedic god (I/93/4)	Vṛishańaśwa - A Vedic king (I/51/13)
Citraratha – Indra slew him (IV/30/18)	Citra - A Vedic king (VIII/21/17-18)
Devaka -  Indra slew him (VII/18/20)	Devala - A priest of the family of Kaśyapa,, composed the hymn IX/5 to 24
Jarútha - Agni consumed Jarútha with his flames (X/80/3)	Jaratkarna - Agni protected him (X/80/3)
Kawaṣha - Indra drowned him in the water (VII/18/12)	Kavasha - The composer of the hymns from X/30 to 34
Kṛishńa - An asura, named Kṛishńa, the black, whom Indra defeated (I/130/8); Indra destroyed the pregnant wives of Kṛishńa (I/101/1)	Krishṇa - Name of the priest of the composer of hymns X/43 and X/44
Manyamāna - His son Devaka was slain by Indra (VII/18/20)	Mānya – Name of a Vedic priest (I/165/14)20
Mṛigaya - Indra is the destroyer of the deceptive Mṛigaya (VIII/3/19)	Gaya - A priest, composer of the hymns X/63 and X/64
Nṛishad - Indra sought to destroy the son of Nṛishad (X/61/13)	Nṛishad - His son Kaṇwa is a Vedic sage (X/31/11)
Púru - Agni overcame him in battle (VII/8/4)	Puru - Indra protected the son of Puru (VIII/3/12)
Rudhikrá - Indra destroyed him (II/14/5)	Dadhikrá - A Vedic god, composer of hymns IV/39 and IV/40  Dadhikrávan - A Vedic god (IV/40/1-4)
Sahavasu – Indra slew him (II/13/8)	Prabhúvasu - A Vedic priest, composer of hymns V/35 and V/36
Śambara – Indra destroyed him (I/51/6); Indra demolished ninety-nine cities of him (I/54/6); Indra discovered him dwelling in the mountains for forty years (II/12/11)	Samvaraṇa - A priest, composer of the hymn V/33
Ṣruta – Indra drowned him (VII/18/12)	Śrutarya - The Vedic god Aświns saved him (I/112/9)
Triṣira21  - Three headed asura (X/8/8)	Triśiras – The son of Twashṭṛi, is a priest, who composed the hymn X/8.
Tugra - Indra slew him (VI/26/4)	Tugra - Great friend of Aświns, the Vedic gods. His son Bhujyu was saved by Aświns (I/116/3-5)
Viśvarūpa - Tvaṣṭar's son, slain by Indra (II/11/19, X/8/9 )	Viśvakarman - A Vedic god and a priest of same name who composed the hymns X/81 and X/82)
Vṛishaṣipra - Indra and Vishṇu, the Vedic gods "baffled the devices of the slave Vṛishaṣipra," an enemy name (VII/99/4)	Vṛishabha - A king favoured by Indra in a war (VI/26/4)

It can be surmised that the names Dāsa and Dasyu were used in the society from long before and that is why we see their use with some Aryan names. Dāsa and Dasyu were used to display negligence and hatred to the enemy in the war. Literally Dāsa means servant, slave, subjugated or captive. Whereas Dasyu means dacoit, robber, etc. It is mentioned in the Ṛgveda that Dāsas, Dasyus and demons are, “who hates (holy) prayers” (II/23/4), “irreligious” (VII/83/7), “who performs no rites” (IX/41/2), “who does not worship” (X/49/1), etc. On the other hand when the confederacy of ten tribes consisting of the same but hostile Aryan faction was defeated by the king Sudās, the priest Viśwámitra composed hymns in praising it: "The ten confederated irreligious Rájas did not prevail, Indra and Varuṇa, against Sudás: ...." (VII/83/7). It is clear from all the references mentioned above that the terms Dāsas, Dasyus and demons were not used to the people of different communities, rather to the people of the same community, which reflects a conflict within the same community of people.

The conflicts among the gods are also demonstrated in the Ṛgveda. Usha is an important goddess in the Ṛgveda. There are some hymns that describe the conflict between the gods Indra and Usha. Such hymns are:²⁴

"9. Though, Indra, who art mighty, hast enriched the glorious dawn, the daughter of heaven.
"10. The terrified Ushas descended from the broken waggon when the (shower of benefits) had smashed it.
"11. Then her shattered waggon reposed (on the bank) of the Vipás' (river), and she departed from afar." (IV/30)

The conflict between the gods Indra and Usha also demonstrates a social conflict among the prevailing customs and rites associated with two groups of people. But we can see many hymns in the Ṛgveda saying praises of the goddess Usha and even several complete Súktas or hymns have been dedicated to her.  

Similar conflict is portrayed with the god Twashtri, as: "....having overcome Twashṭṛi by his innate (vigour), and carried off the Soma juice, he drank it (deposited) in the ladles." (III/48/4), "Indra, the protector of the virtuous, crushed the arrogant (foe), attaining vast strength; shouting, he cut off the three heads of the multiform son of Twashṭṛi (the lord) of cattle." (X/8/9). It is interesting that the priest in the Ṛgveda also mentioned ".... Twashṭṛi (has made) thy radiant thunderbolt ...."  of Indra (V/31/4). Also, "Twashṭṛi knows the arts of fabricating (drinking vessels), the most skillful of artificers bearing the sacred drinking cups out of which the gods drink - verily he sharpens his axe of good iron, wherewith the white-complexioned Brahmaṇaspati cuts them." (X/53/9). From these hymns it is evident that Twashṭṛi was a prominent god in the community before the inception of Vedic war.

We can also cite the example of Paṇis who are mentioned as the enemy in the Ṛgveda: "Fierce Indra, glorified by us, drink that Soma, (animated) by which though hast discovered the vast herd of cattle (stolen by the Paṇis), ..." (VI/17/1). And also:

"These our grinding stones are anxious, Soma, for thy friendship: destroy the voracious Paní, for verily he is a wolf." (VI/51/14). There are many hymns that express hatred for or enmity with the name of Paṇi.

Following hymns are interesting when the priest urge for great riches from Bṛibu, presided over high places of the Paṇis, the enemy of the Vedic Āryas:

"30. May our most elevating praise be near, Indra, to thee, and urge us to (the acquirement of) great riches.
"31. Bṛibu presided over the high places of the Paṇis, like the elevated bank of the Ganges.
"32. Of whom, prompt as the wind, the liberal donation of thousands (of cattle) has been quickly given to (me) soliciting a gift." (VI/45)  

The translator of the Ṛgveda, H.H. Wilson writes Panis to mean as traders or merchants, a greedy trafficker, who gives no offerings to the gods, no presents to the priests: hence he is come to be identified with an asura, or enemy of the gods.²⁵

Ārya means kind, favorable, true, devoted, dear, excellent, master, lord, etc.²⁶,  which is referred for the noble or respectable person in the society. It was also associated with prestige and honor. It is reasonable that during the Vedic war the prestigious and qualitative term Ārya was being used by the Vedic priests to identify the people who were performing Vedic rites and thereby forming the Vedic religious community amongst the Indus people. From the same consideration the disrespectful or abusive words such as Dāsa, Dasyu, Demon or Rákshasa are being used for the enemies by the Vedic priests. That Ārya is a qualitative name is obvious from the hymn, which can be deprived of for someone, as: " ... As Śuṣṇa's slayer I brandished the dart of death: I gave not up the Āryan name to Dasyu foes." (X/49/3)²⁷  The enemies also claimed themselves as Ārya, can be understood from the priest's requests to Indra in the hymn: "Discriminate between the Āryas and those who are dasyus: restraining those who perform no religious rites, compel them to submit to the performer of sacrifices: be thou, who art powerful, the encourager of the sacrificer. ... " (I/51/8). There is no relation with the complexion associated with the Vedic ally as well as with the enemy. A careful and unprejudiced study of the Ṛgveda makes it clear that the conflict it narrates was that occurred between the two groups of people in the Indus Saraswati Valley who were both essentially Āryas.

From the Ṛgveda the conflict and civil war within the Ārya society indicates a religious conflict, which also reflects the social division and changes that happened in the Indus-Saraswati region. It can be surmised that in the context of protracted crisis and contradictions in the society ultimately a faction split out from the mainstream religion in order to organize movements against the established religion and the ruling class. Thus the hymns of the Ṛgveda are not composed without any social impetus or impulsion. If the case were not such, then the hymns would have been forgotten soon after their composition. It is no doubt that after the victory of the Vedic forces in the war, the victorious priests deliberately preserved the hymns and made them as the foundation of a new religion, which is known as Vedic religion.

All other religious reform movements in the history that ultimately led to the emergence of new religions happened in a similar manner from within the society and from within the existing religious and mythological context, in a situation of social crisis and decadence or upheaval of new social forces. No religious reform in history is caused by the foreign invaders or intruders to the society, as can be learned from the history of the emergence of Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, Islam, Sikhism or any other religion.

 

3.    Destruction of dams or Vṛitras by Vedic people

Cautious study of the Ṛgveda reveals that central motive of the priests was to compose the hymns to reform the already existing religion with a view to wage war to slay Vṛitra, who’s other name is also Ahi. It also can be surmised that the Vedic god Indra was being upgraded from its previous minor position, during the religious reform movement. Similarly many minor or local gods like Agni, Usha, Aświns, etc. were being upgraded through the religious reform process from their minor or regional positions with simultaneously degrading the established god or gods. In this way it follows the same process for every new religion evolved from the background of already an established religion. The Ṛgveda is not a myth or fiction, although mythical elements are no doubt incorporated here, which occurs in every religious literature. While reading the Ṛgveda one needs to be careful to acknowledge that there are lots of changes in meaning through time; however, we need to be careful to understand its meaning in the context of the historical period of remote past. Mention can be made for the Vedic word áyas, which has been used in the Ṛgveda in “púra áyasīr ní” (II/20/8)²⁸  translated generally as 'forts of iron,'²⁹  “vájra āyasó” (VIII/96/3) as 'metal thunderbolt' or 'iron bolt' and in “ayasmáyas tám v ádāma víprāḥ” (V/30/15) as 'metal caldron.' In these cases only the thunderbolt or bolt which is the weapon of Indra can be conceived as made by metal; bronze can be the most acceptable item here. Even the caldron can be made of bronze. However, forts or cities cannot be made by bronze. If we consider that anything processed by fire to improve the quality was called áyas, it's meaning will be clear. Then it can be explained that why the city or fort built by burnt bricks is mentioned in the Ṛgveda as “púra áyasīr ní.” As there is no mention of brick or burnt brick in the Ṛgveda, it has misled many writers to conclude that the Vedic people were not familiar with bricks, especially the burnt bricks. Similarly the term áyas is used to mean for copper or bronze in many cases, although there is no mention of copper or bronze in the Ṛgveda. The time of the composition of the Ṛgveda can be considered to be the beginning of the second century BC, when iron was unknown to the people of the Indus-Saraswati Valley. In similar manner it can be explained that many other words or terms used in the Ṛgveda, most of which are used metaphorically, their meaning today can only be guessed.  

In respect of composing the hymns of the Ṛgveda there was certainly a motivation and urge by the Vedic priests to build a new authority and leadership in the society under certain social conditions. After establishing the new authority and after the victory in the Vedic war the Ṛgveda became the tool for the newly emerged Brahmin and upper classes for preserving and eternalizing the social leadership in later Hindu society. After its success and later in historical Indian society in the new perspectives the meaning of many words and sentences might have been changed with time or even might have been changed deliberately to serve the purpose of the religious class. It can be done for obscuring or making imperceptible the material and worldly concept of the Ṛgveda and shrouding it with myth and mystery to the later generations.

Thus there prevails mystery and obscurity associated with Indra and Vṛitra in the Ṛgveda. The greatest feat of Indra is the destroying or slaying of Vṛitra, mentioned many times there. Following hymns can be quoted in relation to the slaying of Vṛitra:

"When, Indra, thou hadst smitten, with thy thunderbolt, the cheek of the wide-extended Vṛitra, who, having obstructed the waters, reposed in the region above the firmament, thy fame spread afar, thy prowess was renowned." (I/ 52/ 6)

'Flow thou who didst help Indra to slay the Vṛitra, who obstructed the great waters." (IX/ 61/ 22)

In the Ṛgveda Vṛitra is sometimes called Ahi. Ahi means serpent. Following references in relation to Vṛitra and Ahi is noteworthy:

"5. With his vast destroying thunderbolt, Indra struck the darkling mutilated Vṛitra. As the trunks of trees are felled by the axe, so lies Ahi, prostrate on the earth.
"6. The arrogant Vṛitra, as if unequalled, defied Indra, the mighty hero, the destroyer of many, the scatterer of foes; - he has not escaped the contact of the fate of (Indra's) enemies. The foe of Indra has crushed the (banks of the) rivers.
"7. Having neither hand nor foot, he defied Indra, who struck him, with the thunderbolt, upon his mountain-like shoulder, like one emasculated who pretends to virility: then Vṛitra, mutilated of many members, slept.
"8. The waters, that delight the minds (of men), flow over him, recumbent on this earth; as a river (bursts through) its broken (banks). Ahi has been prostrated beneath the feet of the waters, which Vṛitra, by his might, had obstructed." (I/ 32)

Above mentioned hymns explain that Vṛitra stopped river water and Indra slew him. There are more hymns representing impoundment of waters by Vṛitra are as follows:

"The darkness obstructed the current of the waters; the cloud was within the belly of Vṛitra: but Indra precipitated all the waters which the obstructor had concealed, in succession, down to the hollows (of the earth)." (I/ 54/10)
When Indra slew Vṛitra or Ahi, the water was released and flowed to the downstream, which is allegorically mentioned in the Ṛgveda, as:

"Then (the waters) rushed forth to proclaim the might of Indra, shouting loudly, and crushing (his foes), when fierce he cut Vṛitra to pieces by his strength - (Vṛitra who) obstructed the waters, and was encompassed by darkness." (X/113/6)

"As elders (send forth their young), so the gods have sent thee (against Vṛitra): thence thou becamest, Indra who art the abode of truth, the sovereign of the world: thou hast slain the slumbering Ahi for (the release of) the water, and hast marked out (the channels of) the all delighting rivers." (IV/19/2)

"7. Indra has filled the youthful rivers, the parents of plenty, the corroders (of their banks), like armies destructive (of their foes): he has inundated the dry lands, and (satisfied) the thirsty travellers: he has milked the barren cows whom the Asuras had become the lord of.
"8. Having slain Vṛitra, he has liberated many mornings and years (that had been) swallowed up by darkness, and has set the rivers free: Indra has released the imprisoned rivers, encompassed (by the cloud), to flow upon the earth." (IV/19)

We see the flow of seven rivers with the slaying of Vṛitra by Indra in the following hymns:

"When the single resplendent Vṛitra returned the blow (which had been inflicted), Indra, by thy thunderbolt, thou becamest (furious), like a horse's tail. Thou hast rescued the kine; thou hast won, hero, the Soma juice; thou hast let loose the seven rivers to flow." (I/32/12)

"Through that friendship, Soma, which has united thee with thy (friend) Indra, he has made the waters flow for man; he has slain Ahi; he has sent forth the seven rivers, and has opened the shut-up sources (of the streams). (IV/28/1)

We suppose that the number seven that has been mentioned many times in the Ṛgveda should not be taken literally. And the fact is that from the Ṛgveda also it is clear that the number of rivers was not confined to seven only in the region, rather it was much more. So, the number seven might be a sacred or symbolic number or term to the composers of the Ṛgveda to signify many or innumerable. In that case, in order to mean many or countless rivers many times seven rivers may have been mentioned in the Ṛgveda.

There are many hymns in the Ṛgveda that describe the event that Vṛitra or Ahi was slain or killed by Indra and water or river water flowed which was obstructed by it. Now the Ṛgveda can be considered as a religious literature composed by the priests to reform the existing religion of the Indus Civilization to destroy the dams in the name of Vedic god Indra in a context of crisis created by the failure of dam based irrigation system. We consider that the rulers of the Indus Civilization at its beginning created dams with sluicegates across the rivers to establish an artificial irrigation system for cultivation. After long time, the dams caused silt formation and the irrigation system was nonoperational and caused for the drying of rivers, change of river courses, aridity, water logging, salinity, etc. After long sufferings to certain population due to this, people were mobilized against dams. And since dams with sluicegates were sanctified by the popular religion which was permitted by the authority of the Indus civilization, a religious reform became essential in order to mobilize the people against them. On the other hand, Indus civilization was relatively a non-coercive civilization. So the peace loving people were not ready to wage war against the authority of the civilization and thereby destroy dams even at the extreme crisis. So, in order to create support for adopting violent method or war to destroy dams a religious reform was also necessary. In such scenario, the priests of the suffered areas organized people by creating a psychology in favor of war by bringing up Indra through a religious reform.

Without reforming the existing religion and enhancing and elevating the minor god Indra, promoting to a prominently war god, it was not possible to counter the gods of dams and motivate the dissatisfied people to fight against the powerful enemy and destroy the dams. We assume that this happened at the end of the Harappan Phase and as soon as the dams were destroyed the dam-based irrigation system collapsed and eventually the civilization could no longer continue.
 

4.    Dam-based irrigation system in the Indus-Saraswati Valley

The huge number of Harappan sites distributed throughout the Indus-Saraswati Valley must have sustained large number of population in this region compared to any other contemporary civilizations.

Aurel Stein and others have discovered dams built across the mountain streams in Baluchistan estimated to have been built during neolithic-calcholithic period for irrigation of lands. Wheeler also mentioned the existence of such dams in Baluchistan which are known locally as gabarband. These had been strongly built by stone rubble, even up to height of 10 to 15 feet, to hold sufficient silt and water.³⁰  Walter A. Fairservis also mentioned such evidence of dams in Las Bela discovered near an Amri site on the Upper Hab River that were built to catch the small annual overflow from the surrounding mountains and by storing it to render it available to normally arid silt tracts which the position of the site indicates were cultivated.³¹  He also refers to the presence of bund agriculture in southwest Sind mentioned by O.H.K. Spate and earlier by the residents of a Harappan village on the edge of the Malir oasis. All these evidences indicate that these dams were constructed as a rather desperate attempt to store the available water from small rivers and utilize for agriculture. Such bund or dam based agriculture was not unknown in the ancient world as mentioned by some authors. R.S. Bisht has also mentioned the existence of dams at three places that were raised across the Manhar and at two places across the Mansar, both the storm water runnels were embraced the site Dholavira.³² The purpose of damming was to harvest water for filling the reservoir in the urban site of Dholavira. At Mehrgarh although no dam was reported, it is mentioned that there is possible evidence for the construction of irrigation ditches, which may have been helpful to agricultural intensification and, eventually population growth.³³ 

C. Benveniste and L. Renou first mentioned Vṛitra from purely philological consideration to mean "obstacle," "barrage," or "bloquage," not a demon, with which D.D. Kosambi also agreed.³⁴  Kosambi had the same view that Indra's breaking up dams is related to the breaking of prehistoric dams, called “Gebr-band” and are still found on many water-courses in the western parts of this region. M.K. Dhavalikar mentions the connection on gabarbands to the Vṛitra whom Indra slew, burst the cloud, broke the strongholds and drove the floods.³⁵  He mentions "This interpretation is more plausible because it prevents the water flowing down where the Aryans were living in the Indus plains."

On this ground it can be suggested that artificial irrigation based on building dams on rivers was employed in the Indus Civilization to increase the agricultural production which was essential for the subsistence of the huge number of the people living in the Indus-Saraswati Valley in so many settlements distributed throughout the vast region. Till now there is no intensive study conducted on the river based irrigation system of the Harappan people which is related to the subsistence agriculture. It can be assumed that the Harappan people built dams on the rivers to impound water and then sent them to distant places through cannels to irrigate agricultural lands. It can also be surmised that there were sluicegates at the dams to control the river waters as required for the irrigation purpose to distribute water to different communities of people. Sluicegates were not unknown to the Harappan people as its existence is mentioned from dockyard of Lothal where there was an arrangement of sliding wooden door in the recesses of the spill-way to control water level at the dock³⁶  and the wooden sluicegate or grill at the drains of Harappa.³⁷ The water management for the irrigation system was solely controlled by the Harappan state, which was a very sensitive task and requires some kind of control and authority over the whole population living under its jurisdiction

After examination of several skeletons from Harappan Civilization physical anthropologists found that there was less differences in patterns of nutritional stress among higher and subordinate social status, which is not found in other urban civilizations of ancient world.³⁸  This observation reflects a society with considerable prosperity at all levels of hierarchy of people. Archaeologists have reported that even relatively small settlements have yielded a wide range of "elite" Harappan artifacts. Examples are Allahdino, Balakot, Amri, Kot Diji and Nausharo, all of which are between two to five hectares in size.³⁹   All these indicate that the Harappan society and state was relatively prosperous and there was less difference in the wealth in the cities and even among the cities and towns. As mentioned earlier this affluence no doubt was achieved by the surplus food production by organizing the dam-based artificial irrigation of vast land. However, this relatively equal distribution of wealth among the cities, towns and people paint before our eyes not only the picture of a prosperous society but also the picture of a civilization that was based on the principle of relative equality of all members of society and democracy in the statecraft on which we will try to shed some lights later.  

But a time came when the golden time of an ancient civilization with so much magnanimity and brilliance was nearing its end. It can be suggested that building dams across the river was the main reason for drying up of rivers like Saraswati and changes of many other river courses at the end of the Mature Harappan Phase. Many traces of palaeo-channels have been identified by satellite image. L.S. Leshnik mentions regarding the ancient irrigation canals as: "... The present Indus hydrography hardly holds out much promise in this regard, for traces of ancient irrigation canals, still partially visible in the last century are now wholly erased. The sole exception seems to be in the South Punjab where Sir Aurel Stein observed a linear alignment of Harappan settlements along the course of a canal traversing Bahawalpur and Bikaner districts."⁴⁰  The satellite imagery has provided much help in tracing the palaeo-channels. Several sinuous shades of grey represent palaeo-channels or abandoned channels in Sindh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat.⁴¹  Riverine character of the Indus civilization is mentioned by the archaeologists long before, as settlement pattern shows that except in Saurashtra, Harappan culture is essentially a riverine culture, flourishing in the valleys of the Himalayan rivers whose flood plains are annually inundated by monsoon floods which spread fresh silt and provide adequate subsoil moisture for agricultural crops.⁴² 

Evidence of flooding is mentioned by the archaeologists at some of the Harappan sites, as it occurred due to dams. There are evidences of devastated flooding at least five times at Mohenjo-daro. Moreover, sites south of Mohenjo-daro, such as Amri and Chanhu-daro found abundant evidence of flooding.⁴³  There happened also aridity resulted from drying up of rivers or changes of river courses.

The Ṛgveda supports the view that all major river flows were stopped due to Vṛitra or Ahi, that were allowed to flow by Indra, as in the following hymns:

"He, who having destroyed Ahi, set free the seven rivers; who recovered the cows detained by Bala; who generated fire in the clouds; who is invincible in battle; he, men, is Indra" (II/12/3)

"He, the seven-rayed, the showerer, the powerful, who let loose the seven rivers to flow; who, armed with the thunderbolt, crushed Rauhiṇa when scaling heaven; he, men, is Indra." (II/12/12)

The priests used metaphors in the hymns. It can be noted in ‘the cloud was within the belly of Vṛitra’, ‘encompassed by the cloud’, etc. to mean metaphorically the water impounded and stored by the dams and ‘recovered the cows’, ‘release of cows', etc. to mean metaphorically the flow of impounded water after the destruction of dams. The Vedic term gávo is used as gó in Sanskrit and its meaning was cow, herd of milk, rays of light, water, the earth, etc^.44

That the rivers were disconnected from their tributaries and branches due to dams and resulting siltation is also metaphorically mentioned in the Ṛgveda, as:

“When the cows were separated from their calves, they wandered about hither and thither; but when the well-offered libations had exhilarated him, then Indra, with his vigorous (Maruts), reunited them (with their calves).” (V/30/10)

From some allegorical narratives we can visualize the existence of sluicegates at dams:

2. (Thou art) that Brahmaṇaspati who, by his might, has humbled those who deserved humiliation; who in his wrath rent the clouds asunder; who sent down the undescending (waters); and made way into the mountain (cave), opulent (in cattle).
3. That was the exploit, (performed) for the most divine of the gods, by which the firm (shut gates) were thrown open, the strong (barriers) were relaxed, (by him) who set the cows at liberty: who, by the (force of the) sacred prayer, destroyed Bala: who dispersed the darkness and displayed the light.
4. That stone-like, solid, down-hanging, water-laden (cloud), which Brahmaṇaspati has with his strength divided, the universal solar rays have drunk up; but they have again shed together the showering and water-spreading (rain). (II/24/2 - 4)
In the above hymns ‘set the cows at liberty’ and ‘the rescue of the cows’ are meant to express release of river water which was stopped due to dams. More examples of hymns are mentioned below:

Through that friendship, Soma, which has united thee with thy (friend) Indra, he has made the waters flow for man; he has slain Ahi; he has sent forth the seven rivers, and has opened the shut-up sources (of the streams). (IV/28/1)

Thou, Indra, hast rent the cloud asunder, thou hast set open the flood-gates, thou hast liberated the obstructed streams, thou hast opened the vast cloud, and hast given vent to the showers, having slain the Dánava. (V/32/1)

2. Reciting sincere praise, reflecting correctly, the Angirasas, the pious sons of the brilliant and powerful (Agni), upholding the intelligent base, the supporter of the sacrifice, praise from the beginning.
3. With his friends (the Maruts) clamouring like geese, throwing open the (Asuras’) cattle-folds made of stone, Bṛihaspati calling aloud (desires to carry off) the cows; knowing all things he praises (the gods), and chants (their laudation).
4. Bṛihaspati purposing to bring light into the darkness drove out the cows standing in the cave in the place of darkness below by two (ways), and those above by one (way); he opened the three (doors of the Asuras);
5. Resting near it, demolishing the western city, Bṛihaspati wrested at once from Vala the three, dawn, the sun, the cow; thundering like the heaven, he proclaimed the adorable (sun).
6. Indra with his voice as with an (armed) hand clove Vala the defender of the milch kine; desirous of the mixture (of milk and Soma) he with (the Maruts), who were shining with perspiration, destroyed Paṇi and liberated the cows.
7. Together with his true brilliant wealth-winning friendly (Maruts) he destroyed the detainer of the cows; Brahmaṇaspati, with the showerers (of benefits), the conveyers of desirable (water), the frequenters of sacrifice, acquired wealth. (X/67/2 – 7)

In the above hymns there is mention of opening of three doors of Asuras which ‘liberated the cows,’ can be conceived as a metaphorical representation of sluice gate with three doors, its opening liberated impounded river water. It is assumed that the destruction of sluicegates is easier than the destruction of dams, as it might be made of wood with frames made of stones. So, most of the hymns regarding slaying of Vṛitra should mean allegorical representation of the destruction of sluicegates. We assume that dams with sluicegates had been constructed at the upstream of every major river and their tributaries at the beginning and distributed part of river water for irrigation to the agricultural fields by several canals. Then resulting flow at the downstream of the large rivers was much less and made it possible to build dams with sluice gates across them.  

There are some hymns which indicate multiplicity of Vṛitra, i.e., Vṛitras (I/84/13, VII/22/2, IX/88/4, etc.), which also indicates the existence of dams across several rivers. Sometimes it is called that Indra “didst discover the nine-and-ninety flowing rivers” (X/104/8).

One thing should be clear from the Ṛgveda that by the term Vṛitra it meant dam or embankment which was built across the river, as   "…  (Vṛitra) increased, in the midst of the navigable (rivers): …." (I/33/11), not along the rivers.
We should take another consequence of frequent changes of river-course and drying up of rivers into consideration. That is the frequent displacement and rehabilitation of populations. When rivers dried or changed their old courses, the surrounding population had to move to the new river basins abandoning the old settlements. It can be realized that the drying up of once mighty river Saraswati caused how much sufferings to a vast number of the population and how much effect it might have on the society. Some hundreds of years later the dam-based irrigation system that distributed river waters to distant lands through irrigation cannels should have caused salinity of the soil also resulting adverse effect on the crop production. All these contributed to discontent of people against the dam-based irrigation system.  

In such situations particularly the displaced and water deprived population should have organized revolts against the Indus state authority. The ruling class of the Indus state who was the developer and builder of the dams across the rivers and architect of the prosperous civilization, is metaphorically expressed by the Vedic priest in the Ṛgveda, as: "Decorated with gold and jewels, they were spreading over the circuit of the earth; but, mighty as they were, they triumphed not over Indra: he dispersed them with the (rising) sun." (I/33/8).

After the destruction of dams, i.e., Vṛitras, and more specifically the sluicegates of the dams, the Vedic faction won in the civil war. But the civilization could not continue as dam-based irrigation system collapsed with the destruction of dams, which also forced to change the agricultural subsistence economy. Many writers claim that climatic change occurred which caused aridity at the beginning of the second millennium BC made the civilization collapse.⁴⁵  Recently a high resolution oxygen isotope (d¹⁸O) record of animal teeth-bone phosphates from an archaeological trench at Bhirrana, North-West India, suggests that other cause like change in subsistence strategy by shifting crop patterns rather than climate changes was responsible for Harappan collapse.⁴⁶  We assume that this change in crop patterns is associated with the change in mode of cultivation shifted due to change from artificial irrigation to the mode of natural cultivation depending on rain and moisture in the soil.

Many mythical elements, which had been prevailing and were popular in the Indus society, have been incorporated in the Ṛgveda, which normally happens in any religious literature, like that happened in the Quaran, the Bible, especially in the Old Testament. As mentioned above the central issue of destruction of Vṛitra or slaying of Ahi is not a mythical corroboration here. Metaphors were being used to mean the dam, the impounded water or the flow of river water after destruction of sluice gates of the dams or the dams itself.

The question should arise why these metaphors were used instead of directly mentioning the dams or sluicegates. The answer lies in the fact that as the dams or embankments and sluicegates were deified in the existing religion, they had different deities or gods. Rivers were gods or defied natural forces in the eyes of the people. So, in order to justify the acts of controlling rivers by dams or embankments and sluicegates to the common people the religion permitted by the rulers of the Indus Civilization had to deify also these artificial objects. Thus along as well as accross the rivers the objects which had been built to control the water-flow of the rivers had also gods or spirits to the common people.

We can assume that when the Vedic priests started organizing the movements against the dams or sluicegates, they had to find different metaphorical names for them so that the religious sentiment of the people would not get hurt. The priests were also a part of the old religion. So, they also could not go directly against the old religious tradition.

But this is one side of the problem. There is another side of it. Like any other great or epoch making social movements the Vedic priests also had to take a considerably long time to organize the movement for the destruction of dams. Since the state authority could not remain idle in the face of any move that was directed against the very foundation of their existence, the Vedic priests had to be very tactful to find effective cover for their movement, which would help them to avoid attack by the state as long as possible and would give them necessary time for the consolidation of the movement at the initial stage.   

Under these circumstances, they had to invent new ways or means to discard the existing gods that had been associated directly with the river control system and they had to use metaphors to mean impounded water or rivers, etc. In this process the term Vṛitra or Ahi was invented to indicate dams or embankments and, at least in many cases, 'gávo' or cow was used to mean water or river. Vṛitra was used to mean obstacle built in the course of the flowing river. Ahi means serpent or snake. Ahi is a perfect allegorical representation of the embankment which runs along a river in a zigzag course. The main feat of the chief Vedic god Indra is the killing of Vṛitra or Ahi or destroying dams and thereby freeing `cows' or impounded rivers.

 

5.    Nature of relationship between Indus Civilization and Ṛgveda

To relate the Ṛgveda with the Harappan civilization we need to answer some basic questions, out of which horse is a common issue. The presence of horse in the Indus-Saraswati Civilization is a much debated issue. Scholars are not in a common platform on the horse issue. Most scholars mention that horse bones were scarce in the Harappan level and argue that horse bones were available at the late phase towards the beginning of second millennium BC. There is no depiction of horse in the Indus seals or other arts. Some archaeologists mention some terracotta figurines are to be horses, which are not in concordance with others. Richard H. Meadow and Ajita Patel's observation is very important in this regard. They say: “... we believe that we should expect to find the true horse in the subcontinent by the very end of the third or the beginning of the second millennium BC, although so far the firm bone evidence still is not there, in our opinion, in spite of Bökönyi’s careful and methodical attempt to document it in his paper."⁴⁷  On the other hand, there are many references of horses in the Ṛgveda. Horse drawn chariot is the vehicle of Indra in many hymns. In the Ṛgveda there are references of two types of horses, one is slow moving and the other is fast moving. Bhagwan Singh correctly mentions slow moving aśva as ass which was common in the Indus-Saraswati region, whereas first moving aśva was the true horse.⁴⁸  He writes: "The Ṛgveda suggests that at an early stage either the distinction between an ass and a horse was so thin that the word aśva was applied to both horse and ass, or they knew only the ass as attested by Aśvins, deified 'horsemen', whose vehicle was ass-driven (I.116.2; Aiterareya Brāhmana iv.9; KB xviii.1). In one verse even Indra is said to be riding an ass-driven car. ... ... ... In fact, it is the aśva denoting 'ass' rather than 'horse' which has its widespread cognates in Indo-European languages. It is evident that the earliest domesticated animal known to the so-called Proto-Indo-Europeans as aśva was not horse but 'ass', which is exactly the Prakritic form of  aśva and appears to have gone from the land of Prakrits to the Indo-European field."

To our view horse was uncommon in the Harappan period and had been newly introduced in the region and also during the Vedic war at the beginning of second millennium BC. In the Vedic reform movements and during the protracted war new groups of peoples from distant places might have involved with the Vedic ally and so many new traits were introduced during the war. Probably some tribes or groups of people joined the war from the western frontiers of the civilization who introduced horse in the region in a limited scale at the end of the Harappan phase. Since horse is a very fast moving riding animal and its use in warfare gave the Vedic soldiers unprecedented speed and force, it has been made largely associated with the war-god Indra in the Ṛgveda. So, sometimes Indra's horse is mentioned as swift or fast moving (II/11/7, III/35/2, etc.) or swift as the wind or moving with the speed of wind (I/175/4, etc.).

Some writers claim that there are some astronomical connotations in the Ṛgveda that presents its composition at about 5000 years before present. Without going into details we can mention that most of the hymns of the Ṛgveda were composed during a civil war with a view to reform the existing religion at its declining period. But the rebel priests carried forward many old hymns practiced in the society and also incorporated the prevailing myths and legends of the existing system into their new system of religious structure. Thus, it carries many prevailing cultural ethos in the society, which naturally carries past heritages. The same answer is for the incorporation of narratives of the flowing Saraswati River in the Ṛgveda. It either already stopped flowing or was about to dry up during the Vedic movement at the end of the Harappan period when the new hymns were being composed. But some old hymns may have been incorporated in order to preserve the past legacy. Thus we find the qualitative narratives of the river Saraswati (I/3/10, I/142/9, VII/95/2).

One question can be raised that there is no signs of destruction or conflagration at the Harappan settlements as a result of Vedic war that occurred in the Indus-Saraswati Valley at the end of Harappan period. This fact does not rule out the event of war that happened in the Indus-Saraswati Valley.

We should keep in mind that the central stimulus of Vedic reform and war was actually aimed to destroy the dams which caused sufferings to the people. When necessary, battles were fought mainly with a view to destroy dams and sluicegates. Particularly, when sluicegates were destroyed, the main purpose of the Vedic movement was achieved. It was much easier to destroy sluicegates on rivers by surprise attacks. Since doors of the sluicegates should be made of wood, it was easier to break them into pieces and then put them into fire. From Ṛgveda also we find this narration in metaphorical terms: “as if, burning (with flame) (I/130/8), “rending the rocks” (IV/1/14), etc. The effect of the destruction of sluicegates can easily be imagined. With the destruction of sluicegates the dams across rivers would also be washed away by the rush of the freed water. Especially, when flash floods occurred, there should be no traces of man-made obstacles that once stood on the way of river course. It freed the river-flow and at the same time destroyed the irrigation system that was based on controlling rivers with the help of dams and sluicegates. In fact, the Vedic forces should not have fought the enemy frontally much to take over cities or towns. The destruction of river control system was easier to undertake, which was their main target also. That was done.

By freeing rivers, the Vedic forces might have desired to go back to natural way of food production. But the civilization and population that developed and expanded depending on a very complex and highly artificial form of irrigation system could no longer survive when the system was finished. Despite the fact of the failure of the river control system in some or even many areas, it seems that everywhere the system did not fail or collapse. So, still there were a considerable number of populations in the civilization. But once the Vedic forces were able to destroy dam based irrigation system in the entire region of the civilization, the scenario changed totally. And as a part of their religious obligation the Vedic forces should not have allowed to exist even a single trace of the sluicegates in the entire region.

It is evident that in this war ultimately none came out as victorious as with the destruction of artificial means of food production the civilization could no longer feed its still remaining population. Sooner or later victors and defeated all had to face the same fate. Starvation, disease and death. It was a holocaust that fell upon the civilization. Sooner or later, most of the surviving population had to move out of the region of the civilization in all possible directions for food and shelter. People migrated over a vast region on earth. But no where we can find re-introduction of the same kind of irrigation system that should have been the very foundation of Indus civilization. After experiencing the utter failure of a system man does not want to go back there. So, before the advent of modern civilization, when so much technological advancements have been made, man nowhere and never ventured to chain rivers with sluicegates and dams for producing surplus food as the founders and organizers of Indus civilization once did.

However, in respect of possible destruction of cities or settlements we may assume that since all belonged to the same community of people, actual destruction was mostly avoided by the Vedic people. As it has been stated that dam was the main issue of strife, battles might have happened outside the cities and towns, and close to the dams. Additionally, in such a relatively peaceful society even a minor battle made a feeling to the people in a bigger sense and even minor destruction of a settlement may portray a huge destruction of cities and forts to the common people, which are depicted in the Ṛgveda. Furthermore, references to destruction of many numbers of cities and forts may be exaggerated to encourage the Vedic people in the war.

Finally, in order to understand the nature of relationship between the Indus Civilization and the Ṛgveda it should be stated that the Ṛgveda reflects only a part of the Indus Civilization, as the pivotal issue was the reformation of existing religion with a view to destroy dams. So, if we fail to understand the Ṛgveda as the product of a religious reform movement, we will fail to understand its inner meaning and, as a result, we will also fail to relate it to the Indus civilization properly.  

 

6.    Society, religion and state in the Indus Civilization

So far earliest level of Neolithic age a settled community found at Mehrgarh, in Bannu Basin in the district of Baluchistan, at a period of approximately 7,500 B.C with continuity up to the end of the Early Harappan just prior to the beginning of the urban phase of the civilization. In a broad cultural division Early Harappan Phase starting approximately 5500 to 2600 BC, which flourished in various regions of the Indus-Saraswati Valley and Mature Harappan is the culmination of internal developments within these Early Harappan cultures. In the Sindh and Baluchistan region the elements of the Early Harappan Amri-Kot Diji cultures dominated the assemblages of the Mature Harappan phase in that region. In the Saraswati valley the elements of the early Siswal-Sothi continued to be dominating in the Mature Harappan phase in that region. The early Harappan cultures of Sourashtra were dominated by Padri Early Phase and continued its culture in Mature Harappan Phase. It is now established that Mature Harappan Phase is not strictly homogeneous throughout the entire region of North-western part of South Asia, which was thought earlier.

During the later Early Harappan periods there found new settlements continued from the previous cultures in the region. The Harappan urban revolution took place around circa 2700-2600 BC in the region of Mehrgarh, Nausharo, Kot Diji, Bhirrana, Kalibangan, Harappa, Dhalewan, Rakhigarhi, Rahman Dheri, Boror and Kunal.⁴⁹   However, there are more settlements found in the Greater Indus Valley during this early phase, comprise predominantly local cultures as evidenced from the archaeological excavations. During the urban phase of the civilization, there was continuity from the earlier phases from the local cultures and the numbers of sites increased considerably including large cities and other settlements which can be designated as towns and villages. There were common traits in this phase throughout the settlements spread in the Indus-Saraswati valley with standardization in the city and town planning, covered street drains, brick size, weights, script and similarity in arts and craft production.

In dam-based irrigation system building of dams as well as continuous yearly maintenance to keep it functional throughout hundreds of years, considerably large numbers of people are required. We assume that there was social compulsion to accommodate many working people in dam based irrigation system from its formative stage which was possible by peaceful means by making confederacy among various tribes living in proximity. It has been seen in Mesopotamia that the rulers were involved in the control of the irrigation systems and water managements for different tribes and communities of the subject people. Similar thing happened here too. In the urban Harappan phase there was control and strictness by the state as evidenced in rigidity maintained in measurements in bricks, roads and lanes, structures, and uniformity in weights, script, etc. along with the diversity and freedom in other areas, such as religion and local cultural aspects, some of which may have inherited from similar practices at the Early Harappan Phase.

As time passed the practice of confederacy among the neighboring tribes attracted other tribes for maintaining as well as sharing the benefit of the dam based irrigation system at extended areas. This type of confederacy may have been formed at every cultural regions in the Early Harappan Phase under the leadership of a city or town, may be both in small and large scales. However, there may have any one dominating confederacy that influenced all other confederacies in the region culturally and materially probably through the means of introducing the river control system in extended areas during this period. Possibly for this reason we see similarities in ceramic culture of Harappa during Ravi Phase (3300 to 2800 BC) among the distant settlements like Early Harappan level at Kot Diji, Jalilpur Period II, Rahman Dheri Period II, etc.⁵⁰  In the Harappan Phase we see five large cities evolved in the Indus-Saraswati Valley like Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, Dholavira, Rakhigarhi and Ganeriwala, with almost equidistance from each other.⁵¹  We assume that during the transition phase (2700-2600 BC) all these cities formed a greater confederacy with a single leadership, which is demonstrated in similar material cultures archaeologically evidenced throughout the whole Indus state. The authority executed by the Indus rulers was related directly with the dam-based river control system by distributing water to the tribes and communities living in the area under their control. This should have been possible by the extension and consolidation of river control system from the earlier phase. This may happen in the rivers of the Indus-Saraswati Valley and even beyond its peripheral region.

The formation of confederacy among sedentary and semi-nomadic tribes supposed to have been introduced from the beginning by relatively peaceful means with one or more tribes in an authoritative position. To form the confederacy as well as to keep it functional for the sake of irrigation of dammed water through cannels it was very much dependent on the central control as well as consensus of the members of the tribes. This tradition seems to have led the society to a democratic and comparatively peaceful way of social transformation, which slowly became the deep tradition in the region. Thus relatively peaceful social transformation took place in the Greater Indus Valley, which had a strong political, social, cultural and psychological impact on the Indus Civilization. Archaeological evidence also supports the relative absence and low quality of arms and military tools in the Indus Civilization. The massive mud-brick walls surrounded most of the large settlements, had been built as a symbol of power and authority,⁵²  not for the military purpose.

The meager numbers and poor quality of military tools and absence of depiction of warfare or battle in any Harappan art indicate that the military class or army was in minor position in the Indus Civilization. It seems that it remained under strict control of the democratic and civilian rulers of the civilization. The role of the military class was confined to the responsibility of protecting the civilization from minor invasions from outer regions and also to protect itself from minor internal strife, if any. As it was the age before the introduction of horse, a mass attack in large scale from a distant place was not possible. And nearby there was no other military power or civilization which could threaten its existence. The hostile communities outside the periphery, if any, were absorbed in the civilization by its gargantuan power.

Developing a glorious civilization with vast areas in a relatively peaceful way and without making aggression against the people of different tribes and communities is unique and unprecedented in the history of humanity. We assume that sufficient affluence attained by dam-based artificial irrigation system enabled the civilization to absorb different communities of people in it peacefully or without making military aggression, which was not possible in other contemporary civilizations.   

Everywhere-else in order to build civilization man emphasized extracting human labor and service. But here the pioneers of civilization adopted a way whereby man could build civilization by emphasizing the extraction of nature. To be more specific, in Indus civilization exploitation of man by man was largely replaced by the exploitation of nature by man. In order to do that man had to chain the rivers, not man, in a relative sense, of course. That is why we see so much concern for the wellbeing of the general people and so much modesty of a civilization despite having its enormous size, resource and power in the given historical context.     

Regional religious practices such as fire worship can be demonstrated in Kalibangan, Rakhigarhi, Banawali, Dholavira and Lothal⁵³  but not in Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. Animal sacrifice was demonstrated in Mohenjo-daro. The absence of seals bearing human and semi divine forms and the scarcity of so-called mother goddess figures in Rakhigarhi may indicate that certain religious rites which were common in the Indus Valley were not popular here.⁵⁴ The burial customs practiced were also different in different settlements and even diverse in same settlement. All these features of simultaneous existence of strict state control and flexibility to allow regional religious practices and cultures were the unique characteristic of the rulers of the Indus Civilization. There was trade with Mesopotamia. But no items produced in Mesopotamia proper have been found in the Indus region. There was also absence of Mesopotamian cylinder seals and sealings in Indus cities. This indicates that Mesopotamian traders were not directly involved with the Indus trade.⁵⁵ This also indicates a strict control of trades by the Indus state authority.

At Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, almost every house had a bathing platform with a drain leading out into the street, emptying into a sump pot or a brick-lined drain. The rulers were conscious for the well being and amenities for the subject people, as evidenced from the well planned settlements, covered drains, facilities to provide water, etc. It is estimated that more than 700 wells had existed at one time in the city of Mohenjo-daro, the highest density ever found for a city worldwide, and also the earliest one.⁵⁶  Our view is that the civilization developed in such a manner that it was not possible for the rulers to be permanent and centralize the power like those of the other ancient civilizations like in Egypt and Mesopotamia. For this reason they did not concentrate on to erect monumental architectures like palaces or tombs like others. The democratic and republican nature of state administration may have continued in later republics in early historic India. Michel Danino referred to B.B. Lal's comment in this connection and also indicated this possibility by mentioning, “The case for a rebirth of Harappan governance in the form of the early historic “republics” does seem valid, although we will need more evidence to firm it up.” ⁵⁷ 

Archaeologists have identified at least three sub-phases on the basis of changes in ceramic and other artifact styles, in seals and writing and in architectural configurations. Excavations indicate numerous phases of urban growth, decay, and renewal that happened at major sites such as Harappa and Mohenjo-daro.⁵⁸  These may be associated with the internal social changes or changes in the leadership of the society and state. Now the question is who were the rulers of this state dispersed to such a large extent?

The utilitarian nature of the Harappan civilization has already been identified by the archaeologists as seen in the metal objects found at various sites. Jim G. Shaffer writes in this connection, "Mesopotamian context are usually interpreted as representing status symbols, and as a means of concentrating wealth in a limited number of relatively portable objects. The function of metal artifacts in early Mesopotamian cultures is viewed as being mainly symbolic rather than utilitarian. This is a distinct contrast to the Mature Harappan Culture where the primary function for a vast number of metal artifacts appears to have been utilitarian rather than symbolic."⁵⁹  There was no palace or temple or royal cemetery that can be identified even in the large cities like Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Dholavira or recently excavated large city of Rakhigarhi. In other contemporary civilizations the rulers concentrated on building gigantic structures such as royal palaces, temples, tombs like pyramids, etc. These were the material manifestations of their power and grandeur. But all these features are absent in Indus Civilization. This fact paints the picture of a democratic state and society.  Most of the archaeologists agree that the Harappan state was not ruled by hereditary monarchical elites.

As regards religion we can assume that the role of religion was secondary or minor for the greater social unity and bonding as demonstrated in the absence of large religious structures like temples or any large icons, contrasting to other ancient civilizations. When the highly artistic and finely made pictures depicted on the terracotta or steatite seals are considered, it is evident that the crudely made so called mother goddess and terracotta human figurines found in some large cities and some other sites were not associated with the ruling class. The power of the civilization must have manifested through its outward symbols or structures.

The dam-based irrigation system with sluicegates was an unprecedented and unparalleled intervention by men over the forces of nature in ancient times. In this action religion should have no role or little role to play, if any, in the formative stage of civilization. Rather it seems that building dams with gates to control rivers required not only extraordinary courage and innovative ideas but also unprejudiced or logical thinking or ideas about life and nature. To the primitive mind it should be considered something like not only going against nature or natural forces but also something like going against the gods or spirits of rivers. So, at least the pioneers of Indus Civilization seem to be materialist or non-religious people in their world vision which influenced the development of civilization. But there should have been the presence of religion or belief in the supernatural elements in the society, at least at the bottom level. Being predominantly non-religious the builders and rulers of the civilization might have allowed a particular religion which would develop or function under their control and would act as their supporting tool in the task of unifying and controlling the society.

The builders of the Indus Civilization controlled the rivers by building dams for the affluence of the people and that is why no coercive means to control the people was required. So, militarism could not develop. On the other hand, since the civilization was not based on extreme form of inequality, exploitation and oppression, religion also should not have developed to take any dominant position at least in the flourishing time of the civilization. But, in course of time, this situation should have changed, especially during the declining time of civilization when the dam-based irrigation system could no longer function properly, as mentioned earlier. When material power of civilization waned, along with militarism religion should have gained prominence in the society and ultimately with the final destruction of the civilization the phase of religious domination and militarism or warfare should have begun. The Ṛgveda is the product of such a situation.

It is significant that Ṛgveda paints a clear picture of a civilized society. But we cannot have any clear picture about its administration or statecraft. It clearly indicates the distance of the priest class of Indus Civilization from the politics or statecraft. Since the priests had no role in the politics or statecraft, political matters and issues related to statecraft remained out of their jurisdiction as well as knowledge. As Vedic priests came from the traditional priesthood of Indus society, despite the fact of inciting a revolt against the rulers of civilization by religious reform, they also carried this legacy of their distance from political matters.

However, in the Ṛgveda there are few mentions of savā, samity, samrāṭ, rājan, rājaka, etc. The first two terms refer to assemblies that took vital decisions on matters of public interest. The term samrāṭ represents a superior position to the local rulers rājan and rājaka. The Ṛgveda also mentions about mayor or ruler of a city, "Emulous in commendation, like (those contending for the favor) of men, may Indra, the wielder of the thunderbolt, be equally (a friend) to us: like those who desirous of his friendship, (conciliate) the lord of a city (ruling) with good government, so do our intermediate (representatives), propitiate (Indra) with sacrifices." (I/ 173/10)  

The clue of the state administration can be visualized if we look at the panchayat system that existed and continued for long in Indian society for the village administration before the advent of British colonialists. It was the practice continued in the society based on mutual consent and cooperation. Another important aspect of Indus Civilization is that it is difficult to definitely identify the capital among the major five large cities. Among the five, Ganeriwala has not yet been excavated and so no data is available till now. Among the other four excavated cities Mohenjo-daro seems to be the capital as the Great Bath is there at the citadel, which is not found at any other Harappan cities. Ablution of the head of the rulers may have been associated with the Great Bath, but this does not definitely imply the control of any religious class in the state.

Along with minor role of military class in the Indus state it also can be assumed that the administration was placed directly under the house of representatives of different social groups, such as traders, industry owners, engineers, craftsmen, teachers, philosophers, etc., which was predominantly non-religious in nature. This system of state administration should be republican, which might have gone upward from the bottom and regional level of the society to the top at the center. There was no caste system in the society; otherwise it would not have been possible to develop such an advanced civilization. The Ṛgveda also reflects the absence of caste system like hereditary professional groups in the society, as it mentions: "I am the singer; papa is the physician, mamma throws the corn upon the grinding stones; having various occupations, desiring riches we remain (in the world) like cattle (in the stalls): flow, Indu for Indra." (IX/112/3).

Most of the hymns in the Ṛgveda is associated with the rural life indicates the possibility that the rebel Vedic priests were either forced or compelled to leave the cities and towns and organized the agricultural and semi-pastoral people widely distributed and living in vast region of the Indus-Saraswati Valley. Michel Danino also mentions in similar way, "....., if the composers of the Vedic hymns were living in Harappan times, they may well have done so on the margins of the great civilization (perhaps in ashram-like settlements) rather than in the middle of its cities."⁶⁰  

In order to clarify the issue further, we may try to understand the effect of drying up process of the Saraswati or Ghaggar-Hakra that was once the mightiest river in the entire region of the civilization. This situation should have forced a large population to abandon cities, towns and old settlements and to go back to a sort of semi-nomadic or at best to a rural life pattern in newly settled areas. In our opinion, these displaced people who were most affected by the drying of rivers and frequent changes of river course formed the foundation as well as the core-force of the Vedic movement. Naturally, in some cases, their unstable, uncertain, nomadic or semi-nomadic and rural or semi-rural life may have some reflections in the Ṛgveda.    

The Ṛgveda reveals that Varuṇa was the central or the chief god of the religion supposedly permitted or preferred by the Indus state and a form of monotheism was established centered to Varuṇa. This monotheism might have developed during the formation of Harappan state in the transition phase at about 2700-2600 BC which continued till to the end of the Indus civilization. But the state itself might have been even atheistic or non-religious, but allowed religion in a restricted and controlled fashion for the common people. Probably code of conduct and custom was practiced by the ruling class. The Varuṇa centered monotheism allowed for the unification of the large state, which comprised of people diversified in religions and cultures.    

As Varuṇa was the supreme god of the religion supposedly permitted or preferred by the Indus state in relation to other religions, it was difficult for the Vedic reformers to take an explicit position against him, who was highly venerated by the common people. In this situation they promoted the minor god Indra and other gods such as Agni, Usha, Vayu, Aśvins, etc. who were suppressed minor and regional gods in the Indus society. The god Indra was promoted parallel to Varuṇa, to diminish slowly the role of Varuṇa in the society.  It can be further assumed that many regional religious and cultural elements, which remained suppressed from the formative stage of the civilization, should have come out and became prominent by the religious reform movement, which has been manifested in the Ṛgveda.  
 
Since the traditional religion was not congenial to war or violence, in order to counter Vedic movement another religious reform of the existing religion also became essential, which was supported or inspired by the rulers of the civilization. Thus one group stood for the destruction of dams and the other for the suppression of Vedic rebellion. We propose that the Avesta is the product of the second religious reform movement during the same time. The Avestan movement took place under the leadership of Zarathustra. In the Ṛgveda there is a mention of an enemy of the Vedic faction named as Jarútha (X/80/3), who may be Zarathustra.
 
One interesting matter is that there was a central religious leader in the Avestan reform, but no such central leadership in the Vedic reform movement. It seems that during the protracted crisis at the end of the Indus Civilization, a discontented section of the priest class of the existing religion was in consensus to reform the existing religion aimed to destroy the dams with the support of the suffered people as well as a minor section of the ruling class. They could not build central leadership, but the common goal kept them united. So without having any single leader or center the reform movement advanced and side by side without having any single military leader the movement turned into a war by the soldiers inspired by the Vedic priests. Whereas the Indus or Harappan state that had a center for state administration, favored the creation of a center for the religious reform movement from the background of the existing religion under the leadership of Zarathustra.
 
That the Avestan reform was particularly against Indra can be clearly acknowledged from the Avesta. There Indra is hated as a demon or evil spirit. In the Avesta the daêvas or Vedic gods are enemies of the Avestan people. Although the Avesta has undergone major devastation and changes, yet it can be identified as a document composed in the Indus-Saraswati region in a context of social conflict. There are mentions in the Avesta of the river names such as Hapta Hindhu (i.e., Sapta Sindhu) or seven rivers, Harayu (i.e., Sarayu), etc., which are also the rivers in the Greater Indus Valley and mentioned many times in the Ṛgveda. In this context, it should be mentioned that the letter S is pronounced as H in the Avestan language. That is why, the river Sarasvati or Saraswati is mentioned as Harahvaiti in the Avesta. The mentioning of the river names is the most important proof that the Avestan people migrated from India to Iran.

There are many reflections in the Avesta of the great conflict that happened in the Indus civilization during its final days. That the battles were fought for water among the contending factions is explicitly stated in the Avesta:

66. Seeking water for their own kindred, for their own borough, for their own town, for their own country, and saying thus: ‘May our own country have a good store and full of joy!’
67. They fight in the battles that are fought in their own place and land, each according to the place and house where he dwelt (of yore): they look like a gallant warrior who, girded up and watchful, fights for the hoard he has treasured up.
68. And those of them who win bring waters to their own kindred, to their own borough, to their own town, to their own country, saying thus: ‘May my country grow and increase!’ (XIII. Farvardîn Yast, XXII)⁶¹

The Avesta shows the conflict between the Vedic gods, mentioned as daêvas and the gods of the Avestans, who are mentioned in the Ṛgveda as asuras. In the Indus civilization the gods were probably known as asuras, meaning strong. At the beginning of the Vedic war the Vedic faction used the same term asura for their gods, which is mentioned in the Ṛgveda. However, as the war continued the Vedic priests gradually started using deva for their gods and asuras for the enemy. Thus they were gradually dissociating themselves from the traditional religion.  
 
But despite many differences between the two factions some gods remained common in both the reforms. The Vedic faction still kept Varuṇa as their god. We conjecture that through the religious reform the supreme god Varuṇa of Indus civilization has been named Ahur Mazda in the Avesta. The god Mitra is also venerated by both the factions. He is called Mithra in the Avesta. Vedic Soma is called Haoma in the Avesta. The Vedic god Vayu is an important god in the Avesta.

From the archaeological evidences we can assume that in the Indus Civilization there was no iconolatry in the religion that was controlled and patronized or regulated by the state. Following this tradition both the Vedic and Avestan religions do not practice iconolatry. However, in the Avesta the iconoclastic attitude is more explicit than in the Ṛgveda.

The development of religion without image worship is another surprising aspect of Indus civilization. It seems that the rulers of the Indus civilization as a part of their grand project to assimilate different tribes or peoples relatively peacefully and thereby build up a single great nation on a vast territory allowed or even might have encouraged to develop the religion of formless gods and goddesses. Once the gods or deities of different tribes either lost their separate figures or images, or were restricted to a small size, a very effective weapon for preserving tribal entity or separation was lost or weakened. So it became easier to assimilate separate tribal religions or cultures into a single religious structure under the supreme god Varuṇa, who also did not have any image or form. Thus from the religious point of view, Varuṇa was the symbol of peaceful unification of all the nations into a single nation of Indus civilization.

It seems that for the two reasons the question of unification remained the most vital question for the existence of the Indus civilization throughout its lifetime. Firstly, the too fragile river control system, which could collapse any moment in case of any major chaos or loosening of the central control of the state authority. Secondly, the huge expanse of the state, which also could collapse in any case of effective rise of any diverse or hostile element from within the boundary of the civilization. Especially, before the introduction of horse it was nearly an impossible task to maintain such a vast state even with military might. But the ruling class of the Harappan state maintained their control over seemingly an ever expanding vast territory over centuries without having the advantage of using a fast animal like horse and without making systematic military campaigns against other tribes or nations.

It can be understood that the river control system was the main source of vigor or power of the civilization. So, we can assume that in order to maintain its power and ensure its security the civilization had to expand river control system continuously by constructing dams on new rivers in new but adjacent territories seemingly by achieving the consent and participation of the inhabitants of the concerned territories.

So, the civilization could expand relatively peacefully through centuries. But without achieving unity among diverse populations neither the river control system nor the state could be sustained. Since the rulers could not give preference to militarism or coercive measures to achieve unification, they had to go for developing or using different measures, which can fall into the category of culture and language.

Religion, no doubt, falls in this category. But because of the nature of river control system as well as the benevolent and utilitarian nature of the civilization the founders and rulers of this civilization could not emphasize religion. Particularly, they could not encourage such religious practices which would strengthen identities of different tribes. So, they had to discourage building of icons or images of deities of different tribes. But they had to be accommodative also. So, they should have allowed diverse religions under certain conditions. Thus there are many supposedly religious motifs with a very small size and crude shape and in a very small and fixed frame, e.g., on seals, found at different sites. It seems to be a method to keep under control or arrest the possibility of growth of different tribal religions. So it seems that the religious tolerance was very conditional. It is assumed that despite allowing much diversity in the civilization the main objective of the rulers was to achieve highest possible uniformity through a slow but steady process of assimilation.

But we suppose that the rulers of this civilization could not overlook the importance of religion in ancient times. So they might have preferred to have developed a religion that would not go against their interest or that would rather fit into their grand design of unification on a massive scale. So, a religion might have been preferred to develop gradually, which would be in consistence with the spirit of Indus civilization. So, Varuṇa was made the supreme god without having any image and different gods or deities of different tribes or communities were incorporated in this religion. But none had any icon or image. Thus there was no iconolatry in the existing religion, as we mentioned earlier.

It seems that the monotheistic nature of the Varuṇa centered religion helped the ruling class in the act of forming the greater society, as all the monotheistic religions in history serve the same purpose in the society to suppress the tribal identities and thereby bring other tribes into the greater social entity. From the Ṛgveda and Avesta we can assume that in the declining period religion became an important factor for both the ruling class and the Vedic rebels. However, in the Ṛgveda the opponents have been many times branded as irreligious, riteless or as who hates prayers, who does not worship, etc. But from these statements it is very difficult to conclude about the position of their opponents or the ruling class as regards religion. As a part of the Vedic religious reform the opponents might have been declared irreligious by the Vedic priests. However, it should be stated that what was the actual relation of the ruling class with religion during the heyday of the civilization is yet to be answered clearly.

But one thing is clear from the archaeological evidences that the rulers of the Harappan civilization gave highest emphasis on developing unified cultural norms in the entire civilization. This is reflected in the presence of common scripts, same measurements, weights, city planning and uniformity in other structural arrangements throughout the enormous expanse of the civilization. It can be understood that the builders of the civilization gave unusual emphasis on attaining and maintaining uniformity in order to attain highest possible unity or unification of the population. The cultural unification might have been achieved greatly by teaching the vast numbers of people in the area a single language, perhaps mostly orally. Thus with the expansion of river control system parallelly cultural and linguistic control system developed and expanded, which did not need any major military or coercive measures to impose upon the people.

The cultural and linguistic power of the civilization can easily be understood when we look at the expansion and influence of the Indo-European languages over the vast expanse of the globe. It is clear that the language in which the Ṛgveda was written or composed was the official language of Indus civilization. Not only that, it seems to be the most commonly used language by the people. Otherwise, the Vedic priests would not have written their hymns in the Vedic language. In order to build any popular social or religious movement the organizers must use the language that is used or understood by the general people of the contemporary society.

Scholars, in general, hold the view that Avesta was written in Old Iranian language which is closely related to Vedic language of the Ṛgveda. Our view is that both of them were originally written in the same Vedic language. So, we can infer that the Vedic language was understood and even used by quite a large number of the population of the vast region of the Indus civilization. The signboard depicted in Indus scripts found at the gate of Dholavira city also supports this view. Naturally, it required enormous initiative and effort by the state to teach the people as large number as possible the language that was the language of the state. So, wherever these people migrated during and after the collapse of the civilization, they carried the language in which they used to read, write and even speak in many cases and thus gradually developed new languages in new lands, all those belonging to the Indo-European language family.

Thus the power of a civilization, extinct long before, is still very much alive through the languages spoken by the billions of people that have spread over much of the planet earth now. Nearly 42% of the human population (3.2 billion) speaks an Indo-European language and it is by far the highest of any language family.⁶²  This is not only the outcome of a great civilization but also the outcome of careful, conscious and painstaking efforts undertaken over centuries by a group of people who built such a brilliant civilization mainly depending on peaceful means. It is also very much interesting to note that the history of the expansion of many major languages such as Arabic, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Han, etc. is closely related to military conquests. But the spread of the so-called Vedic or proto-Indo-European language presents different picture. Outside the periphery of Indus civilization it spread when it became the language of a people wondering hither and thither in search of new homelands and when they had no power-base to show their military might.

 

7.    Impact of Vedic victory as well as fall of Indus Civilization in South Asia

We strongly believe that such a civilization which is so powerful in its culture, language and material aspects must have influenced other societies and communities wherever the people of this civilization came into contact due to migration. This is very much evident for the Harappan Civilization for both material and ideological spheres, when it was highly developed in engineering, state administration, literature and philosophy, as evidenced from the Harappan archaeology combined with the narratives in the Ṛgveda. In later republics of early historic India the Harappan civilization must have continued its trace which demonstrates the level of superiority in state administration and governance done in a democratic way under the consent of people. Recent researches are showing that the linear measurements and system of weights of the Harappan Civilization continued in the later early historic Indian society. Present archaeological study suggests that the numbers of Late Harappan settlements were not reduced everywhere in the Indus-Saraswati region. There were increasing numbers of settlements in the upper reaches of the Saraswati and Drishadvati Valley at this period. This indicates the migration of people from other region there. At the end of the Vedic war the Vedic faction won and migrated mostly to the east of the Indus-Saraswati Valley, especially in the fertile Ganges plain. It can be inferred that a large portion of the population travelled to the west to distant and less hospitable lands most of whom were defeated or were not associated with the Vedic faction in the war. We assume that the spread of the Indo-European language over a vast region of South Asia, Iran, central Asia⁶³  and all over Europe is the result of mass migration of the Vedic speaking people or the Āryas from the Indus-Saraswati Valley during and after the decline of Indus Civilization.

It is true that the civilization was already collapsing due to the failure of river control system. But, in this context, we may have to deduce also an unpalatable conclusion that by accelerating the death of an already dying civilization caused by the failure of the river control system the Vedic (religious) victory in Indus civilization paved the way for the rise of reaction throughout South Asia by making religion almost the omnipotent factor in all spheres of life. Whatever might be the intention of the religious leaders of the Vedic movement their actions were directed against the very foundation of a vast and glorious civilization. It must have a far reaching effect on the psyche of the people.

It was mentioned earlier that the religion should have negligible or minor role in the Harappan society or state. But it is possible that during the last phase of the Harappan civilization the ruling class was forced to give more and more importance to religion in order to control and pacify the discontented people in the face of increasing failure of the river control system. Michael Jansen mentions that the Great Bath was not conceived as part of the original structural concept of the Mohenjo-daro citadel and built around 2300 BC,⁶⁴  which we suppose to be a part of the existing religion permitted by the state.

But a time should have come when religion could no longer contain the discontent and anger of a large section of the people. By any means they wanted to get rid of the river control system. In order to give their demand a voice a group of discontented priests seemingly supported by a minor section of the ruling class came to dethrone the gods those represented the obstacles of rivers. Thus these gods have been turned into demons or evil forces through a religious reform made by the Vedic priests. This led to a civil war.

Thus the failure of river control system and the resultant social conflicts brought the destruction of the only ancient civilization on earth, which was essentially peaceful and predominantly non-religious. Out of its ruins the suppressed forces of militarism and religion came out to play the dominant role in rebuilding civilizations in later historical times in India and far away places. The destruction of Indus civilization not only released the forces of religion and militarism but also released many other forces or elements that remained suppressed during the glorious times of the civilization.

It can be conjectured that the role of the Vedic priests in building the people's psychology for war and destruction of river control system uplifted their position. However, despite attaining the highest position among the four castes in the society, following the previous tradition, the later priest caste or Brahmins maintained their distance from active participation in warfare and refrained from directly holding the state power. The state power was handed over to the warrior caste or Kṣatriyas who used to rule the state with the support and advice of the Brahmins.  

From the Avesta also we can visualize the rise of the military and religious or priest class in the society. But in the Avestan society the position of the military class was superior to the priest class as can be witnessed in later Iran.

However, the entire population of the civilization does not seem to be divided between the Vedic and Avestan faiths as can be known from later historical records. Despite the fact that the Indo-European or the Vedic speaking peoples' migration took place over a vast region extended up to Europe, we do not see considerable presence of Vedic or Avestan religion in any other country beyond Indian subcontinent and Iran.

Even in India more than a millennium after the collapse of Indus civilization we see republics that were neither Vedic nor Avestan. The material constituents of the civilization waned away and interrupted, but the practices, norms, beliefs, etc. continued differently in the ideological or cultural form. In ancient India council can be identified as the most important political institution for the republican states. It is interesting to note that the republican state of the Śākyas had a governing council that seems to have consisted of 500 members, which has a surprising similarity with the number of the members of council at Athens.⁶⁵ 

We consider the republics evolved during the time of the Buddha as the remnants of the republican and democratic heritage of Indus civilization. But with the rise and strengthening and expansion of religion and militarism these republics were replaced gradually by hereditary kingship and autocracy. With the fall of Indus civilization the magnificent and benevolent urbanism with its predominantly non-religious and democratic institutions was gone. Instead rural India ridden with caste divisions basing on the concept of unalterable purity and impurity of humans and extreme form of inequality gradually emerged to dominate over the life of the people of the subcontinent for millennia.

In later historical times centering the Gangetic plains or northern India we witness the rise and spread of this new social order based on caste division under the leadership of the Brahmins, the successors of the Vedic priests. By declaring unfaltering allegiance to the supremacy and infallibility or purity of the Vedas, the sacred books, the Brahmins made all the changes to their traditional Vedic religion. In fact, this is a peaceful change of the Vedic religion to a new religion. Now this religion is known to us as Hinduism or Hindu religion. Sometimes it is called Brahminism also.

We can assume that during the time of decline and also after the destruction of Indus civilization a massive migration and resettlement of the Indus population was taking place in the Gangetic region as it was nearer and more habitable than many other places. During the resettlement process major social reorganizations also should have taken place as a result of interaction mostly with local tribal communities in this region. The social reorganization might have taken a time of a millennium and a half. History is still almost obscure about what was going on in the Gangetic plains during this time. However, since the middle of the first millennium BC when history of India begins to unfold the mysteries before our eyes, we can see the rise of Brahminism or Hinduism as a major social phenomenon. How and why such a religion along with a social order based on caste division could have developed should be a subject of interesting and useful study. But that is out of our scope here. However, as regards Hinduism we can say that like iconography many other elements that remained suppressed or kept under strict control by the authority in Indus civilization made their way to find prominent position in later Hinduism. By any judgment, the spirit of Hinduism does not seem to be in consistence with the spirit of Indus civilization. So, with the rise of Hinduism much of the spirit of Indus civilization died.  

However, the spirit of Indus civilization did not die totally and abruptly. In many ways it survived or influenced society. For example, we have discussed about the presence of republics which existed from the sixth century BC to the fourth century AD in various parts of India. Not only that, we consider the Buddha as a bearer of the legacy of Indus civilization, of course, in a somewhat different form. The Buddhist religious saṁgha of bhikkhus was modeled from the republican assemblies or political saṁghas which should have existed earlier in the political system of Indus Civilization. The concept of ahiṁsā or non-violence that is central to Buddhism like another once popular Indian religion Jainism should be rooted in Indus civilization.

Since Buddhism is atheistic, its rise in the middle of the first millennium BC is very significant. It is evident that atheism or nonbelieving in the existence of gods had a strong footing in the society from long before. Otherwise, religion like Buddhism could not have gained such a wide support among the people in later historical times. We also come to know about the existence of different philosophical schools in ancient India which were atheistic in nature e.g., Sāṃkhya philosophy and Cārvāka or Lokāyata philosophy. Especially, the followers of Cārvāka School were strongly opposed to any kind of religion or faith in the existence of soul or supernatural elements. It can be assumed that these philosophies had a very strong foundation and popularity in Indus civilization in its flourishing time.

To be concise, the divide during the civil war does not seem to be confined to the Vedic and Avestan factions only. There were also other factions or forces in the Indus society. But from the dominance of the followers of the Ṛgveda in the historical Indian subcontinent it is evident that the victorious Vedic forces gained the upper hand here. They could destroy the dam-based irrigation system that led to the final destruction of a brilliant civilization. Their victory became the victory of a particular religion and religious force, which should have far-reaching effect in the subcontinent.

With the death of Indus Civilization by a religious upheaval the South Asia seems to have made some kind of backward march. Despite having gone through many changes over centuries and millennia the life of the general people of the subcontinent is still being dictated largely by the rules of religion or blind faith instead of reasoning or critical thinking. This should be considered as the impact of the Vedic victory as well.

 

_______________________________

Endnotes

 

[1] Shamsuzzoha Manik and Shamsul Alam Chanchal, The Aryans and the Indus Civilization, Dinratri Prakashani, Dhaka, 1995.

[2] Shamsuzzoha Manik and Shamsul Alam Chanchal, Arzajan O Sindhu Sabhyata, Ba-dweep Prakashan, Dhaka, 2003.

[3] R.S. Bisht, "Harappan Civilization (1921-2013): An Overview,” in, Puratattva, No. 43, 2013, p. 14.

[4] R.S. Bisht, “Harappan Civilization (1921-2013): An Overview," in, Puratattva, No. 43, 2013, p. 14; Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization, Oxford University Press, Karachi and American Institute of Pakistan Studies, Islamabad, 1998, p. 17.

[5] Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization, 1998, p. 17.  R.S. Bisht, "Harappan Civilization (1921-2013): An Overview," in, Puratattva, No. 43, 2013, p. 13. 

[6] D.P. Sharma, "Harappan Civilization," eds, D.P. Sharma and Madhuri Sharma, Early Harappans and Indus-Sarasvati Civilization, Volume I, Kaveri Books, New Delhi, First published 2006, p. 4.

[7] M. Rafique Mughal, "Further Evidence of the Early Harappan Culture in the Greater Indus Valley: 1971-90," in, South Asian Studies 6, 1990, p. 176.

[8] S.P. Gupta first introduced the name ‘Indus-Sarasvati Civilization.’ See: S.P. Gupta, "The Indus-Sarasvatī Civilization: Beginnings and Developments," in, ed, Thomas R. Trautmann, The Aryan Debate, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2005, pp. 158-159.

[9] The issue has been discussed by V.N. Misra, "Climate, a Factor in the Rise and Fall of the Indus Civilization - Evidence from Rajasthan and Beyond," in, eds, B.B. Lal and S.P. Gupta, Frontiers of the Indus Civilization, Sir Mortimer Wheeler Commemoration Volume; Books and Books, New Delhi, on behalf of Indian Archaeological Society jointly with Indian History and Culture Society, 1984, pp.461-483.

[10] Y. Enzel, L.L. Ely, S. Mishra, R. Ramesh, R. Amit, B. Lazar, S.N. Rajaguru, V.R. Baker and A. Sandler, "High-Resolution Holocene Environmental Changes in the Thar Desert, Northwestern India," in, Science, Vol. 284, 2 April 1999, pp. 125-128. (Available from internet)

[11] Michel Danino, "Revisiting the Role of Climate in the Collapse of the Indus-Sarasvati Civilization," in, Puratattva, No. 38, 2008, pp. 159-169.

[12] This view was suggested by Gregory L. Possehl, which is referred by Michel Danino. See: Michel Danino, "Revisiting the Role of Climate in the Collapse of the Indus-Sarasvati Civilization," in, Puratattva, No. 38, 2008, p. 161.

[13] Vasant Shinde, Shweta Sinha Deshpande, Toshiki Osada and Takao Uno, "Basic Issues in Harappan Archaeology: Some Thoughts," in, Ancient Asia, Vol. I, 2006, p. 67. (Available from internet)

[14] V.N. Misra, "Climate, a Factor in the Rise and Fall of the Indus Civilization," in, eds, B.B. Lal and S.P. Gupta, Frontiers of the Indus Civilization, Sir Mortimer Wheeler Commemoration Volume, Published by Books and Books, New Delhi, on behalf of Indian Archaeological Society jointly with Indian History & Culture Society, 1984, p. 483.

[15] D.P. Agrawal and R.K. Sood, "Ecological Factors and the Harappan Civilization," in, ed, Gregory L. Possehl, Harappan Civilization: A Recent Perspective, American Institute of Indian Studies and Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 1993, p. 226.

[16] J.R. Sharma, A.K. Gupta and B.K. Bhadra, "Course of Vedic River Saraswati as Deciphered from Latest Satellite Data," in, Puratattva, No. 36, 2005-2006, 2006, pp. 187-195.

[17] J.R. Sharma, A.K. Gupta and B.K. Bhadra, "Course of Vedic River Saraswati as Deciphered by Latest Satellite Data," in, Puratattva, No. 36, 2005-2006, 2006, pp. 187-195.

[18] Rita P. Wright, Reid A. Bryson and Joseph Schuldenrein, "Water supply and history: Harappa and the Beas regional survey," in, Antiquity, 82, 2008, pp. 37-48. (Available from internet)

[19] M. Rafique Mughal, “The Consequences of River Changes for the Harappan Settlements in Cholistan,” in, The Eastern Anthropologist, Vol. 45 (1 & 2), 1992, pp. 105-106, 114.

[20] The Hymns of the Ṛgveda, Translated by Ralph T.H. Griffith, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, New Delhi, Reprinted 2004.

[21] In Vedic language it is mentioned as “triṣirsháṇaṃ,” which means three headed. However, both Wilson and Griffith translated it as “three headed (Asura).” Ṛig-veda Sanhitá, translated by H.H. Wilson and The Hymns of the Ṛgveda, translated by Ralph T.H. Griffith.

[22] Griffith used this translation.

[23] Griffith used the spelling “Vala”, but Wilson used both “Vala” and “Bala”.

[24] All English quotations from the Ṛgveda in the article are used from: Ṛig-veda Sanhitá, translated by H.H. Wilson, (1) The First Ashṫaka, or Book, Second Edition, N. Tubner and Co., London, 1866; (2) The Second  Ashṫaka, or Book, Wm. H. Allen and Co., London, 1854; (3) The Third and Fourth Ashtakas, or Books, Wm. H. Allen and Co., London, 1857; (4) The Fifth Ashṭakas, or Books, N. Tubner and Co., London, 1866; (5) Sixth and Part of the Seventh Ashṭaka, or Book, Trübner & Co., 1888; (6) Part of the Seventh and the Eighth Ashṭaka, Trübner & Co., 1888; unless otherwise mentioned. (Available from internet)

[25] H.H. Wilson has mentioned it at the footnote in the pages 490-491 of Ṛig-veda Sanhitá, The Third and Fourth Ashtakas, or Books, Wm. H. Allen and Co., London, 1857. (Available from internet)

[26] Monier Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, Delhi, Reprint 1995, p. 93.

[27] This translation is used from: The Hymns of the Ṛgveda, Translated by Ralph T.H. Griffith.

[28] All the Sanskrit texts in English from the hymns of the Ṛgveda have been used from: Ṛgveda Samhitā in 13 Volumes by Svami Satya Prakash Sarasvati and Satyakam Vidyalankar, Veda Pratishthana, New Delhi, published from 1977 to 1987.

[29] All translations of the Rigvedic terms with transliteration signs have been used from: The Hymns of the Ṛgveda, Translated by Ralph T.H. Griffith and Ṛig-veda Sanhitá, translated by H.H. Wilson.

[30] Sir Mortimer Wheeler, The Indus Civilization, Cambridge University Press, 1968, Third Edition, pp.10-11.

[31] Walter A. Fairservis, "The Harappan Civilization - New Evidence and More Theory," in, American Museum Novitates, Published by the American Museum of Natural History, New York, No. 2055, 1961, p. 5. (Available from internet)

[32] R.S. Bisht, "Dholavira and Banawali: Two Different Paradigms of the Harappan Urbis Forma," in, Puratattva, No. 29, 1999, pp. 26-28.

[33] Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, "Households and Neighborhoods of the Indus Tradition: An Overview," in, eds, Bradley J. Parker and Catherine P. Foster, New Perspectives on Household Archaeology, Eisenbrauns, Indiana, 2012, p. 381. (Available from internet)

[34] Damodar Dharmanand Kosambi, An Introduction to the Study of Indian History, Popular Prakashan, Bombay, First Published 1956, Revised Second Edition 1975, Reprinted 1985, pp. 74, 75.

[35] M.K. Dhavalikar, The Aryans: Myth and Archaeology, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2007, pp. 100,101.

[36] S.R. Rao, (1979), Lothal: A Harappan Port Town (1955-62), Volume I, Published by the Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi, 1979, p.126.

[37] Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization, 1998, p. 61.

[38] Kenneth A.R. Kennedy, "Skulls, Aryans and Flowing Drains: The Interface of Archaeology and Skeletal Biology in the Study of the Harappan Civilization," in, ed, Gregory L. Possehl, Harappan Civilization: A Contemporary Perspective, Oxford & IBH Publishing Co, New Delhi, 1982, p. 290.

[39] Jonathan Mark Kenoyer and Richard H. Meadow, "Harappa: New Discoveries on its Origins and Growth," in, Lahore Museum Bulletin, Vol. XII, No. 1, 1999, p. 5. (Available from internet)

[40] L.S. Leshnik, "Land Use and ecological factors in prehistoric North-West India," in, ed, Norman Hammond, South Asian Archaeology, Papers from the First International Conference of South Asian Archaeologists held in the University of Cambridge, Published by Gerald Duckworth & Company Ltd., London, 1973, p. 70.

[41] Prem Kishore Saint, "Paleohydrology of the Sindhu-Sarasvatī Civilization River Systems," in, ed, Nalini Rao, Sindhu-Sarasvatī Civilization: New Perspectives, A Volume in Memory of Dr. Shikaripur Ranganatha Rao, Nalanda International, Los Angeles and D.K. Printworld (P) Ltd., New Delhi, 2014, pp. 542-543.

[42] V.N. Misra, "Climate, a Factor in the Rise and Fall of the Indus Civilization – Evidence from Rajasthan and Beyond," in, eds, B.B. Lal and S.P. Gupta, Frontiers of the Indus Civilization, Sir Mortimer Wheeler Commemoration Volume, Published by Books and Books, New Delhi, on behalf of Indian Archaeological Society jointly with Indian History & Culture Society, 1984, p. 483.

[43] George F. Dales, "The Decline of the Harappans," in, ed, Gegory L. Possehl, Ancient Cities of the Indus, Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 1979, p. 309.

[44] Monier Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, Delhi, Reprint 1995, p. 363.

[45] Michel Danino discussed different views of different writers on the climate change. See: Michel Danino, "Revisiting the Role of Climate Change in the Collapse of the Indus-Sarasvati Civilization," in, Puratattva, No. 38, 2008, pp. 159-169.

[46] Anindya Sarkar, Arati Deshpande Mukherjee, M.K. Bera, B. Das, Navin Juyal, P. Morthekai, R.D. Deshpande, V.S. Shinde, and L.S. Rao, "Oxygen isotope in archaeological bioapatites from India: Implications to climate change and decline of Bronze Age Harappan civilization," in, Nature, 2016, p. 1. (Available from internet)

[47] Richard H. Meadow and Ajita Patel, "Comment on 'Horse Remains from Surkotada," in, ed, Thomas R. Trautmann, The Aryan Debate, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2005, p. 249.

[48] Bhagwan Singh, The Vedic Harappans, Aditya Prakashan, New Delhi, 1995, pp. 57-64.

[49] D.P. Sharma, "Harappan Civilization," in, eds, D.P. Sharma and Madhuri Sharma, Early Harappans and Indus-Sarasvati Civilization, Volume I, Kaveri Books, New Delhi, 2013, p. 8.

[50] Jonathan Mark Kenoyer and Richard H. Meadow, "Harappa: New Discoveries on its Origins and Growth," in, Lahore Museum Bulletin, Vol. XII, No. 1, 1999, p. 2. (Available from internet)

[51] M. Rafique Mughal, "The Harappan "Twin Capitals" And Reality," in, Journal of Central Asia, Vol. XIII, No. 1, July, 1990, pp. 155-159.

[52] P. Eltsov, "Power circumscribed by space: Attempting a new model of the ancient South Asian city," in, Current Studies on the Indus Civilization, Volume VI, eds, Toshiki Osada and Akinori Uesugi, Manohar Publishers & Distributers, New Delhi, 2011, pp. 62-65.

[53] D.P. Sharma, "Harappan Civilization," in, eds, D.P. Sharma and Madhuri Sharma, Early Harappans and Indus-Sarasvati Civilization, Volume I, Kaveri Books, New Delhi, 2013, p. 18

[54] Amarendra Nath, Excavations at Rahigarhi [1997-98 to 1999-2000], Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi, 2014, p. 106. (Available from internet)

[55] J.M. Kenoyer, Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization, 1998, p. 98.

[56] Michael Jansen, "Mohenjo-Daro, Indus Valley Civilization: Water Supply and Water Use in One of the Largest Bronze Age Cities of the Third Millennium BC," in, eds, Terje Tvedt and Terje Oestigaard, A History of Water, A, Series III, Vol. 1: Water and Urbanism, I.B. Tauris, 2014, p. 53. (Available from internet)

[57] Michel Danino, "The Harappan Heritage and the Aryan Problem," in, Man and Environment, Vol. XXVIII, No. 1, p. 3.  (Available from internet)

[58] Jonathan Mark Kenoyer and Richard H. Meadow, "Harappa: New Discoveries on its Origins and Growth," in, Lahore Museum Bulletin, Vol. XII, No. 1, 1999, p. 4. (Available from internet)

[59] Jim G. Shaffer, "Harappan Culture: A Reconsideration," in, ed, Gregory L. Possehl, Harappan Civilization: A Recent Perspective, American Institute of Indian Studies and Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 1993, p. 48.

[60] Michel Danino, "The Harappan Heritage and the Aryan Problem," in, Man and Environment, Vol. XXVIII, No. 1, 2003, p. 11. (Available from internet)

[61] The Zend-Avesta, Volume XIII, Part II, of The Sacred Books of the East, edited by F. Max Mülller, Second Edition, Oxford, 1895, pp. 195, 196.

[62] “Indo-European languages” from Wikipedia, web link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-European_languages.

[63] B.B. Lal in his book mentions the presence of Vedic people in Turkey and Iran other than India. See: B.B. Lal, How Deep Are the Roots of Indian Civilization?: Archaeology Answers, Aryan Books International, New Delhi, 2009, pp.129-135.

[64] Michael Jansen, "Mohenjo-Daro, Indus Valley Civilization: Water Supply and Water Use in One of the Largest Bronze Age Cities of the Third Millennium BC," in, eds, Terje Tvedt and Terje Oestigaard, A History of Water, A, Series III, Vol. 1: Water and Urbanism, I.B. Tauris, 2014, pp. 60-63. (Available from internet)

[65] G.P. Singh, Republics, Kingdoms, Towns and Cities in Ancient India, D.K. Printworld (P) Ltd., New Delhi, 2003, p. 23.

 

 

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