Yayati

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Yayati (ययाति) was a Puranic king and the son of king Nahusha. He was a great scholar of Vedas. He had two wives, Devyani and Sharmishtha. Devyani was the daughter of Shukracharya, the priest of Asuras. Sharmishtha was the daughter of the Demon King Vrishparva. Sharmishtha was a friend and servant of Devyani.

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Yayati dynasty

Yayati got two sons from Devyani – 1. Yadu and 2. Turvasu. He also got three sons from Sharmishtha – 1. Druhyu 2. Anu and 3. Puru. [1]The descendants of Yadu are called Yadavvanshi in which was born Krishna, the founder of Jat sangha.

Genealogical tables of Yayati dynasty are reproduced below from “Todd’s Rajasthan based on Agni Puran.

YAYATI DYNASTY


Yayati


    |        |	       |	    |           |



Yadu    Turvasu   Puru  Druhyu  Anu

Yadu

Yadu was banished from ruling and had become rebel who first started ruling in outskirts of India and then intruded the mainland. The jambudwepa referred in scriptures is believed to be in memory of these islands. The regions where the Yadu clan settled is not certain, but certain scholars suggest that Yadu clan inherited the territories to the south-west of the Gangetic plains, between the Chambal River, Betwa and Ken, which correspond to the border areas of present Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Descendants of yadu were called Yadavavanshi. Krishna was born in this vansha.

Many historians consider the origin of Jats from Yadu.

  • Thakur Deshraj has mentioned [2]with reference to Pandit Lekhram Arya who says in 'Risalajihad' that word Jat has derived from Yadu as under.[3]
Yadu(यदु) → Jadu(जदु) → Jādu(जादु) → Jād(जाद) → Jāt(जात) → Jāt(जाट)
  • James Todd [4]and Wilson have also supported this theory.
  • Mr Neshfield, a renowned Indologist, says that "The word Jat is nothing more than the modern Hindi pronunciation of Yadu or Jadu, the tribe in which Krishna was born.
  • The Sinsinwar Jat rulers of Bharatpur have been recorded as Yadavavanshi, the descendants of Krishna by Prakash Chandra Chandawat. [5]
तीन जाति जादव की, अंधक, विस्‍नी, भोज ।
तीन भांति तेई भये, तै फिर तिनही षोज ।।
पूर्व जनम ते जादव विस्‍नी ।
तेई प्रकटे आइ सिनसिनी ।।
  • Jat historian Bhaleram Beniwal has written after recent researches with evidences in his book "Jāton kā Ādikālīn Itihās" [10]that Krishna was by all evidences noting other than Jat. He has mentioned the above refered evidences in addition to the following authors which mention Krishna as Jats. These are Yogendrapal Shastri[11], Motilal Gupta [12] Walter Hamilton[13].
  • The Muslim contries have a notion that Jats are the ancestors of Yadavas. The Arabian traveller Al-Biruni has mentioned that Lord Krishna was a Jat. [14]
  • Dr Natthan Singh has also mentioned the theory of origin of Jats from Yadu. Yadu was banished from ruling by Yayati for not obeying him and made his other son Puru as king. Yadu had become rebel who first started ruling in outskirts of India in south-west border areas. Slowly he gained strength by forming a federation of Shaka, Pallava, Parad, Yavan and Kamboja tribes. The king Sagar failed his these attempts and suppressed them. In order to avoid confrontation with Sagar, the Yaduvanshis came to Sursena area (Mathura). Here he again formed a federation of 18 tribes. One of thse tribe was vrishni in which Krishna was born. Many historians connect Jats with these Yadus. Looking to similar physical features, food habits, life and culture both Jats and Yaduvanshis can be treated belonging to same caste.[15]

Turvasu

Turvasu is considered to be the originator of Tomar gotra people.

Puru

The descendants of Puru included the famous Kauravas and Pandavas of Mahabharata.

The Purus are tribe or a confederation of tribes mentioned in the Rigveda. RV 7.96.2 locates them at the banks of the Sarasvati River. They were defeated by king Sudas at the Battle of the Ten Kings. The descendants of Puru were called Pauravas. The Pauravas was the name given to the many petty kingdoms and tribes of ancient northwest India in the 5th and 4th centuries BCE. The Pauravas were all situated on or near the Indus river where their monarchs grew rich and prosperous through trade. The Persian kings Darius and Xerxes claimed suzerainty over many of the Pauravas, but this claim was loose at best. The most powerful tribes, the Ambhi and Porus, were cowed by the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great in 326 BCE, but he did not go on to conquer the entire area because his army simply refused to go any further. The region was eventually absorbed into the Mauryan Empire.

Druhyu

The Druhyus were a people of Ancient India. They are already mentioned in the Rigveda.[16] They lived in the Ghandara region. They were often considered to be Dasyus.

The Puranas say that they moved north and west, and then settled in Gandhara, Aratta (northwest Punjab) and Setu. (VP IV.17) The Druhyus were driven out of the land of the seven rivers by Mandhatr and their next king Ghandara settled in a north-western region which became known as Ghandara. The sons of the later Druhyu king Pracetas finally migrate to the region north of Afghanistan.( Bhagavata 9.23.15-16; Visnu 4.17.5; Vayu 99.11-12; Brahmanda 3.74.11-12 and Marsya 48.9.)

Some scholars say they could be related to Zoroastrian, Iranian, Greek or European peoples.

They were probably a north-western people[17]. In the Hindu epics, they are connected with Ghandara.[18]

Anu

Anu In Sumerian mythology and later for Assyrians and Babylonians, Anu (also An; 𒀭) was a sky-god, the god of heaven, lord of constellations, king of gods, spirits and demons, and dwelt in the highest heavenly regions. It was believed that he had the power to judge those who had committed crimes, and that he had created the stars as soldiers to destroy the wicked. He was the father of the Anunnaku (also spelled Anunnaki).

He was the oldest god in the Sumerian pantheon, and part of a triad including Enlil, god of the sky and Enki, god of water. He was called Anu by the Akkadians, rulers of Mesopotamia after the conquest of Sumer in 2334 BCE by King Sargon of Akkad. By virtue of being the first figure in a triad consisting of Anu, Bel and Ea, Anu came to be regarded as the father and at first, king of the gods. Anu is so prominently associated with the city of Uruk, Biblical Erech in southern Babylonia that there are good reasons for believing this place to have been the original seat of the Anu cult. If this be correct, then the goddess Inanna (or Ishtar) of Uruk may at one time have been his consort.

According to the Earth Chronicles series by Zecharia Sitchin, the wife of Anu was a fertility goddess and the mother of the gods; her cult was centered in Munster. However, Anu was one of the Anunnaki who came from the planet Nibiru (Marduk). According to Sitchin's theories on Sumerian legend and lore, the Anunnaki arrived first on Earth probably 400,000 years ago, looking for minerals, especially gold, which they found and mined in Africa.

Story of Yayati

One day as Devyani and Sharmishtha along with the hoard of servants were amusing themselves in a park, King Yayati happened to pass by. Devyani had been secretly in love with Yayati as he had once rescued her from a dry well. Devyani and Sharmishtha introduced themselves to him and Devyani confessed to being in love with him and asked him to marry her. Yayati said, "Unless your father gives you to me in marriage I will not accept you as my wife." Shukracharya gave in to his daughter's request and agreed to give her away in marriage to King Yayati. As dowry he gave away Sharmishtha. He however warned Yayati that he should never let Sharmishtha share his bed.

Sharmishtha was given a place to live in a shaded glade called Ashok Vatika. One day Yayati happened to pass by Ashok Vatika where Sharmishtha lived. Seeing him, Sharmishtha confessed that she too was in love with the king and wanted him to marry her. She told him that she belonged to a royal family and Yayati could marry her. Yayti agreed and they wed in secret. They continued to meet and hid the fact from Devyani that they were married.

When Devyani came to know about the relationship of Yayati and Sharmishtha and their three sons she felt shocked and betrayed. Devyani went away to her father's house. Shukracharya was displeased with the king, and cursed that he would lose his youth and become an old man immediately.

As soon as Shukracharya uttered his curse Yayati became an old man. Shukracharya also said that his curse once uttered could not be taken back and added that the only concession he could give was that if Yayati wanted he could give his old age to someone and take their youth from them. Yayati was relieved at the reprieve he was given and confident that his sons would willingly exchange their youth with him. Yayati went back to his kingdom. Yayati requested all his five sons one by one to give their youth to him to enjoy the worldly happiness. All the sons except Puru rejected his demand. So Yayati took the youth of Puru and enjoyed all the subjects. Puru became the successor King of Yayati.

According to Thakur Deshraj, [19]The Chandravanshi Aryans of India had habitations in Iran which were known as Jatali. Majority of them were gyatiwadi (republics). He has refered General Cunninngham [20]who has mentioned the presence of Yayati Vanshi Jats in Jatali. Yayati was son of Nahusha. This province got the name Jatali being the habitation of Jats. The language of these Jats is Jadgali (alternate names, Jatgali, Jatki, Jat) [21]

References

  1. ↑ Genealogy of Yayati
  2. ↑ Thakur Deshraj: Jat Itihas (Hindi), Maharaja Suraj Mal Smarak Shiksha Sansthan, Delhi, 1934, 2nd edition 1992. Page 85-86
  3. ↑ Parmesh Sharma & Rajpal Shastri: Kshatriyon ka Itihas
  4. ↑ James Todd: Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, 2 Vols., Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., London, 1972 (reprint), first published in 1829
  5. ↑ Dr. Prakash Chandra Chandawat: Maharaja Suraj Mal aur unka yug, Jaypal Agencies Agra, 1982
  6. ↑ UN Sharma :Jaton ka Navin Itihas
  7. ↑ Sudan: Sujan-charitra, page-4
  8. ↑ Somnath: Sujanvilas,page 133
  9. ↑ Udayram: Sujan samva
  10. ↑ Bhaleram Beniwal : "Jāton kā Ādikālīn Itihās" (page 26-30), Jaypal Agencies Agra
  11. ↑ Yogendrapal Shastri:Jaton ka utkarsh (page286)
  12. ↑ Motilal Gupta: Matsya Pradesh ki Hindi Sahitya ko den (page214)
  13. ↑ Walter Hamilton: The east India Gazeteer (Vol. 1, page 233)
  14. ↑ Al-Biruni, India:Translated by Kayamuddin, Published by National Book Trust, India, 1997 page-176
  15. ↑ Dr Natthan Singh: Jat - Itihas (Hindi), Jat Samaj Kalyan Parishad Gwalior, 2004 (Page31-32
  16. ↑ e.g. RV 1.108.8; 7.18; 8.10.5; 6.46.8
  17. ↑ Macdonell and Keith, Vedic Index, 1912, I, 385
  18. ↑ Macdonell and Keith, Vedic Index, 1912, I, 385
  19. ↑ Thakur Deshraj: Jat Itihasa (Hindi), Maharaja Suraj Mal Smarak Shiksha Sansthan, Delhi, 1934, 2nd edition 1992.
  20. ↑ Alexander Cunningham, History of Sikhs
  21. ↑ Language of Jats


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