A clear evidence of the influence of the Dravidians on the ancient civilization of Indus is that the graves discovered at Mohan-jo-daro and Harappa are very similar to the graves of the Deccan and South India, where the Dravidians still reside, and the influence of the Dravidian nations ended after the arrival of the Aryans. This great nation came to India from Central Asia. First settled in Sindh and gradually spread over the whole of India by conquering the other nations here due to their power and extraordinary abilities of conquest. The time of their arrival starts from 3000 BC. The people were divided into five different tribes, and according to the tradition of the Vedas, which the Aryans regard as their divine book, they were accordingly called the "Panj Jinas".
They favoured the confluence of five rivers for their abode. In the Vedic texts, the great religious books born from the confluence of the Vanasha (Jhelum) and Askini (Chenab), a state named “Panchal” is also repeatedly mentioned, which is probably synonymous with the river “Pancha”, and the proof of this is that one of the names of the state of Panchal was "Kareoi". The name of a river in the Indus Valley was "Kari Wah". According to the description of the Rigveda, this region was located between Sindhu (Indus River) and Askini (Chenab). According to the Mahabharata, Panchal or the region of Panchal is mentioned as occupied by Varyudhan, the son of Dhart Rashtr. He gave this state to his sister, Rani Dhila. Kari Wah is the river across which Muhammad bin Qasim's forces fought against Raja Dahir. This incident is on Wednesday, the 9th of Ramadan, 93 Hijri (711 A.D.). Similarly, a mountain range of Halar in the Indus Valley is also named as Kurd (Tareekh-e-Sindh, Abu Zafar Nadvi).
The greatness of the river Indus is repeatedly mentioned in the Rigveda. And the prosperity of the people living on its banks has been reported. A place is listed as “Shining, radiant, luxurious, unconquerable, more water in it than all rivers. As beautiful as a gorgeous Piebald horse. Sindhu comes quickly. Other streams are left behind. Saraswati is the purest of rivers. It comes from the mountains and falls into the sea. It brings wealth and prosperity to the world. For those who dwell on its banks, its waters contain milk and honey for them (Vedic Hind).”
Regarding the location of the ancient Aryan cities, it is also worth noting that these settlements were usually located on the banks of rivers, where a triangular area was located near the confluence of two or more rivers. That is why the great ancient city of "Uch" was located on the banks of the Panjand River. The Ghaghra River of Cholistan is now also called the Lost River. Historians' opinion about this lost river is that it was flowing in the erstwhile state of Bahawalpur till the 18th century, and the area, which is now a vast desert, was very green due to its location near the passage of this river. In that era, the vastness of the desert was as narrow as an envious eye. Today, where you can see sand and dirt piles as far as the eye can see, it was once a paradise of waving fields and smiling meadows.
According to The Ancient History of India, the vast desert that covers a large area of Rajputana and Sindh was very limited in ancient times. At that time, a river called Hakra or Dehinda (another name for Ghaghra River) used to flow through the Cholistan desert and irrigate a vast area through its canals, branching out in different directions.
In the Islamic period, this river served as a boundary between Sindh and India. This river completely disappeared in the 18th century A.D. But its ancient passage and the ruins of the cities settled on the banks of this passage can still be seen today. According to the famous historian Tod, it is clear that "the regions which have become barren and desolate and have become vast deserts, due to the drying up of the Hakra river, this calamity fell upon them.” The region of Cholistan lies northwest of the Hakara-Ghaghra River, and this vast desert was once fully inhabited. Archaeological remains of old settlements are still available in this area.
According to some Western historians, the river Ghaghar or Hakra is actually the ancient passage of the river Indus, and it is also called Dehind. In support of this theory, it is argued that an old city named Dehind still exists on the banks of the Indus River, and Alexander the Great stayed here during his military campaign. But it seems quite correct that it was a permanent river Saraswati, whose lower reaches are called Ghaghar or Hakra or Dehind and which gradually disappeared due to the scarcity of water in the desert and a passage mark left as a water memorial. From the geographical point of view, the passage of the river Hakra or Ghaghra was mostly a sandy area, and the river's own shallowness and barrenness led to its drying up.
Comments
Post a Comment