Study of Inscriptions throwing light on the Jat History

[drssrana2003]

In continuation to my posts 28 and 29 above containing translation of the Inscription II, here we append notes as given by James Tod to facilitate understanding of some words used in the inscription which he thought to provide as sign boards for future readers :

Notes by James Tod on Inscription II

[Note 1]- Question, if this Jit is from (da, the mark of the genitive case) Cathey? The land of the Cathae foes of Alexander, and probably, of the Cathi of the Saurasshtra peninsula, alike, Scythnic as the Jit, and probably the same race originally?

[Note 2]�Roodarani, an epithet of the martial spouse of Harar SIVA, the god of war, whom the Jit in the preceding inscription invokes.

[Note 3] �Here, we have another proof of the Jit being of Takshac race; this at the same time has a mythological reference to the serpent [taakhya], which forms the garland of the warlike divinities.

[Note 4]�Of this race I have no other notice, unless it should mean the race [cula] was from Butan.

[Note 5]�Chandrasen is celebrated in the history of the Pramaras as the founder of several cities, from two of which, Chandrabhaga, at the foot of the central plateau of India, in Northern Malwa, and CHANDRAVATI, the ruins of which I discovered at the foot of the Aravulli near Aboo. I possess several valuable memoria, which will, ere long, confirm the opinions I have given of the Takshac architect.

[Note 6]�The habitation of virtue.

[Note 7]�This shows these foresters always had the same character.

[Note 8]�Vela is the climber or ivy, sacred to Mahadeva.

[Note 9]�Lacshmi, the apsara or sea-nymph, is feigned residing amongst the waters of the lotos-covered lake. In the hot weather the Rajpoot ladies dip their corsets into an infusion of sandal-wood, hence the metaphor.

[Note 10]�Koonjaris are the elephants who support the eight corners of the globe.

[Note 11]-- Lacshmi is also dame Fortune, or the goddess of riches, when the image.

[Note 12]�Kuhl is the fifth in descent from the opponent of the Jit.

[Note 13]�Without this name this inscription would have been but of half its value. Fortunately various inscriptions on stone and copper, procured by me from Oojein, settled the era of the death of this prince in S. 1191, which will alike answer for Achil, his son, who was most likely one of the chieftains of KUHLA, who appears to have been of the elder branch of the Pramaras, the foe of the Jit invaders.
------------------------------

Dr. Rajpal Ji,
Kindly examine notes 1. and 13. above. I would like to fully understand. Is'nt TOD linking Jat (through Jit) with Central Asia? Howdo you react to Tod's observation in note 13 taking Parmaras as the foe of the Jit invaders? I thought the Jats an Parmaras are from a common stock. Their current habitat and share clan names point to such a likelihood. Please also examine the dates given in the two inscriptions.

[nrao]

In continuation to my posts 28 and 29 above containing translation of the Inscription II, here we append notes as given by James Tod to facilitate understanding of some words used in the inscription which he thought to provide as sign boards for future readers :

Notes by James Tod on Inscription II

[Note 1]- Question, if this Jit is from (da, the mark of the genitive case) Cathey? The land of the Cathae foes of Alexander, and probably, of the Cathi of the Saurasshtra peninsula, alike, Scythnic as the Jit, and probably the same race originally?

[Note 2]�Roodarani, an epithet of the martial spouse of Harar SIVA, the god of war, whom the Jit in the preceding inscription invokes.

[Note 3] �Here, we have another proof of the Jit being of Takshac race; this at the same time has a mythological reference to the serpent [taakhya], which forms the garland of the warlike divinities.

[Note 4]�Of this race I have no other notice, unless it should mean the race [cula] was from Butan.

[Note 5]�Chandrasen is celebrated in the history of the Pramaras as the founder of several cities, from two of which, Chandrabhaga, at the foot of the central plateau of India, in Northern Malwa, and CHANDRAVATI, the ruins of which I discovered at the foot of the Aravulli near Aboo. I possess several valuable memoria, which will, ere long, confirm the opinions I have given of the Takshac architect.

[Note 6]�The habitation of virtue.

[Note 7]�This shows these foresters always had the same character.

[Note 8]�Vela is the climber or ivy, sacred to Mahadeva.

[Note 9]�Lacshmi, the apsara or sea-nymph, is feigned residing amongst the waters of the lotos-covered lake. In the hot weather the Rajpoot ladies dip their corsets into an infusion of sandal-wood, hence the metaphor.

[Note 10]�Koonjaris are the elephants who support the eight corners of the globe.

[Note 11]-- Lacshmi is also dame Fortune, or the goddess of riches, when the image.

[Note 12]�Kuhl is the fifth in descent from the opponent of the Jit.

[Note 13]�Without this name this inscription would have been but of half its value. Fortunately various inscriptions on stone and copper, procured by me from Oojein, settled the era of the death of this prince in S. 1191, which will alike answer for Achil, his son, who was most likely one of the chieftains of KUHLA, who appears to have been of the elder branch of the Pramaras, the foe of the Jit invaders.

Dr. Rajpal Ji,
Kindly examine notes 1. and 13. above. I would like to fully understand. Is'nt TOD linking Jat (through Jit) with Central Asia? Howdo you react to Tod's observation in note 13 taking Parmaras as the foe of the Jit invaders? I thought the Jats an Parmaras are from a common stock. Their current habitat and share clan names point to such a likelihood. Please also examine the dates given in the two inscriptions.

Dr Rana, it is good to see you here again. I have followed this thread with lot of interest as there has been good exchange of valuable information. If I can be of any help here, I may try to answer your question above. If the inscription above mentions Jit invaders taking Parmaras as foe then they are likely talking about Hepthalites (while huns) as "Jit or Jat invaders". Initially Huns and Parmars were antagonistic to each other. I had provided some information about this few years ago on Mr Ravi Chaudharys Jat history group:

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/.../messages/4777

It may also provide some answer to note 2 above - "Roodarani, an epithet of the martial spouse of Harar SIVA, the god of war, whom the Jit in the preceding inscription invokes." Mihirkul who was a Hun ruler and son of Torman, had his face on the coins on one side and something resembling Siva on the other side.

In addition, there is information about Malwa in the above link as well, which are associated with 5 separate regions in present day India/Pak which were at one time or the other were called as Malwa, all the way upto Oojein/Ujjain/Indore region (it will also help with note 5 above).

[drssrana2003]

Thank you Naveen.I talked about you with Ravi the other day on ohone. How are you? Please do drop in if you happen to be in India sometime.
Yes, I found the discussion going on engaging. But i have my own questiopns regarding the interpretations of the original text of the inscriptions. I am trying to get them if possible. If you have any clue I would be happy to be enlightened. The term Jit being taken as a variation of the 'Jat' that we know is tricky matter.

[DrRajpalSingh]

Dr. Rajpal Ji,
Kindly examine notes 1. and 13. above. I would like to fully understand. Is'nt TOD linking Jat (through Jit) with Central Asia? Howdo you react to Tod's observation in note 13 taking Parmaras as the foe of the Jit invaders? I thought the Jats an Parmaras are from a common stock. Their current habitat and share clan names point to such a likelihood. Please also examine the dates given in the two inscriptions.

Dr. Sahib,

Thanks for your two good questions,

As regards note 1 :

Far from linking the Jats to foreign or indigenous origin, Tod has said nothing with certainty. Rather he has posed a question indicating possibility to be explored by further researchers.

Before commenting on note 13, I would like to find out more data !

[DrRajpalSingh]

Thank you Naveen.... The term Jit being taken as a variation of the 'Jat' that we know is tricky matter.

While reading the book Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan two points come to mind :

1. Tod has consistently used the word Jit everywhere to describe the Jats living in Rajasthan whether they are as a group of people or belong to vaarious Jat clans. The pattern is always the same 'JIT' word represents them. Therefore there seems to be no harm if we take the word in the sense in which he has used for the community of people today known as Jats. However, this is not to say that he was averse to use word Jat for these people as he has used this word for describing the Jats of Yamuna-Ganga Doab and ruling house of Bharatpur which falls in the modern day Rajasthan but was not included by him in his study of the royal houses.

2. In his classic two volume study, he has tried to trace the genealogy of Suryavamsi, Chandravamsi and of a few Nagavamsis of India by undertaking a comparative study of various records based on archaeology, literature and tradition and has prepared a list of Ancient Royal castes numbering 36 with further bifurcation of these castes into what he says as Cula [gotras]. But he has clubbed all these 36 royal castes into one generic name i.e. Rajapoot, which has led to great confusion to the later day readers.

How to tackle this mix up made by him is a big puzzle !

[lrburdak]

Tod's both Inscriptions I and II pertain to Malwa region which was dominated by Nagavanshi Rulers. Takhya is mentioned in both inscriptions. Takhya is local name in Malvi language for Takha which is same as Taxak. In 2008 I had the opportunity to visit a place called Takhaji in Mandsaur district. Takhaji (ताखाजी) is a place of religious and historical importance with temple of Taxaka in Mandsaur district in Madhya Pradesh. It is also known as Taxakeswara. It is situated at a distance of 22 km from Bhanpura town on Hinglajgarh road. This is the site of serpent king taxak , where he is worshiped as Taxakeshawar but the local people call him Takhaji. Curiously enough he shares the worship of the country folk with Dhanvantri, the Indian Aesculapius. The shrine in question stands on a most romantic spot from village Navali situated on the table land at the foot of which Bhanpura lies.

Mythological legend prevails here according to which Parikshita, the lone descendant of the House of the Pandu, had died of snakebite. He had been cursed by a sage to die so, the curse having been consummated by the serpent-chieftain Takshak. Janamejaya bore a deep grudge against the serpents for this act, and thus decided to wipe them out altogether. He attempted this by performing a great Sarpa satra - a sacrifice at Nagda that would destroy all living serpents. All the nagas had been destroyed in this nagayagya except Taxaka, who is believed to have obtained boon from Lord Vishnu. Local tradition goes that Taxaka resides here. Nagda means Naga+Daha i.e.burning of Nagas.

I have brought it on Jatland which you may read here - [wiki]Taxakeshwar[/wiki]

[lrburdak]

36 Royal Races as mentioned by Tod are:
We reproduce here 36 Royal Races as mentioned by Tod for interest of the readers and further discussion:

Suryavanshi

Chandravanshi

Gahlot

Yadu

Tuar

Rathod

Kushwaha

Pramara

Chauhan

Chalukya/Solanki

Parihar

Chawra

Tak/Takshak

Jat

Hun

Kathi

Balla

Jhala/Makwana

Jaitwa/Jetwa/Kamari

Gohil

Sarwya/Sariaspa

Silar/Sular

Dabi

Gor

Dor/Doda

Garhwal

Bargujar

Sengar

Sikarwal

Byce

Dahia

Johiya

Mohil

Nikumbha

Raj Pali/Dahirya

Dahima

[DrRajpalSingh]

Tod's both Inscriptions I and II pertain to Malwa region which was dominated by Nagavanshi Rulers. Takhya is mentioned in both inscriptions. Takhya is local name in Malvi language for Takha which is same as Taxak. In 2008 I had the opportunity to visit a place called Takhaji in Mandsaur district. Takhaji (ताखाजी) is a place of religious and historical importance with temple of Taxaka in Mandsaur district in Madhya Pradesh. It is also known as Taxakeswara. It is situated at a distance of 22 km from Bhanpura town on Hinglajgarh road. This is the site of serpent king taxak , where he is worshiped as Taxakeshawar but the local people call him Takhaji. Curiously enough he shares the worship of the country folk with Dhanvantri, the Indian Aesculapius. The shrine in question stands on a most romantic spot from village Navali situated on the table land at the foot of which Bhanpura lies.

Mythological legend prevails here according to which Parikshita, the lone descendant of the House of the Pandu, had died of snakebite. He had been cursed by a sage to die so, the curse having been consummated by the serpent-chieftain Takshak. Janamejaya bore a deep grudge against the serpents for this act, and thus decided to wipe them out altogether. He attempted this by performing a great Sarpa satra - a sacrifice at Nagda that would destroy all living serpents. All the nagas had been destroyed in this nagayagya except Taxaka, who is believed to have obtained boon from Lord Vishnu. Local tradition goes that Taxaka resides here. Nagda means Naga+Daha i.e.burning of Nagas.

I have brought it on Jatland which you may read here - Taxakeshwar

Good information on Taxaks.

Nagda i.e. Nag+Daha also seems to convey the place name where a fierce battle was contested against the Nagavamshi [Takshaks] sometime in which considerable number of Nagavamshis were exterminated by the invaders.

[DrRajpalSingh]

The identification of the words used in Inscription 1 as per Tod's translation to convey the race/caste/community to which Jit Silendra belonged is necessary.

Kindly read a few clarifications already sought by quoting the contents of the Inscription like :

“May the Jit'ha be thy protector! What does this Jit resemble?”

What may this Jit'ha be compared to,

Such is the Jit'h

The fame of RAJA JIT!

The fortunes of RAJA JIT

The mighty warrior JIT SALINDRA

resplendent, as does the
moon, the earth, the dominions of SALPOORI.

The whole world praises the JIT prince,...''

This frequent use of Jit/Jitha in the document seems to leave little space for doubt that Tod rightly believed that King Salinder of Salapoori belonged to the Jit/Jat race/community/caste.

However, comments of the participants to this interpretation of the translated version of the document to arrive at some final conclusion, [based on present state of our knowledge about the document under reference when we have no access to the original inscription], are welcome.

[drssrana2003]

The identification of the words used in Inscription 1 as per Tod's translation to convey the race/caste/community to which Jit Silendra belonged is necessary.

Kindly read a few clarifications already sought by quoting the contents of the Inscription like :

“May the Jit'ha be thy protector! What does this Jit resemble?”

What may this Jit'ha be compared to,

Such is the Jit'h

The fame of RAJA JIT!

The fortunes of RAJA JIT

The mighty warrior JIT SALINDRA

resplendent, as does the
moon, the earth, the dominions of SALPOORI.

The whole world praises the JIT prince,...''

This frequent use of Jit/Jitha in the document seems to leave little space for doubt that Tod rightly believed that King Salinder of Salapoori belonged to the Jit/Jat race/community/caste.

However, comments of the participants to this interpretation of the translated version of the document to arrive at some final conclusion, [based on present state of our knowledge about the document under reference when we have no access to the original inscription], are welcome.

Dr. Rajpal Ji,

Pending my acess to the original text of the two Tod inscriptions i would likr to hazard to share my hunch here.
The elements of Sandhi and Samas are always at work in compositions- whether in p[rose or poetry. The chances are that the real form of the term taken out by Tod after all may tur out to be at variance both in form and substance. I give an example:
B.S.Dahiya in his book, Jats, The Ancient Rulers...... had interpreted the adjective jiti (with soft t) used in line 5. of the Mandasaur stone slab Inscription of Yashodharman (Malava Samvat 589 ==532 A.D.) to indicate the Jat(with hard t) identity of the same king. This was mere fantasy. In fact the term was preseded by the text AAjaau (in the battle) and followed by the expression vijayate jagatim punashcha. The iull text read together simply means - victorious in battle he (i.e.Yashodharman) again scores victory over the universe (people) in winning their hearts. Dahiya;s far fetched interpretation falls flat.
Lwt us persist in our pursuit of the truth. May be the expression jit in Tod might have something to do with the bardic habit of using expressions lioke victory or victorious for their heroes.

[DrRajpalSingh]

Dr. Rajpal Ji,

Pending my acess to the original text of the two Tod inscriptions i would likr to hazard to share my hunch here.
The elements of Sandhi and Samas are always at work in compositions- whether in p[rose or poetry. The chances are that the real form of the term taken out by Tod after all may tur out to be at variance both in form and substance. I give an example:
...................................
Lwt us persist in our pursuit of the truth. May be the expression jit in Tod might have something to do with the bardic habit of using expressions lioke victory or victorious for their heroes.

None can deny the possibility in either side !

But the million dollar question is to know where the original document/inscriptions is available !

[prashantacmet]

Dr. Rajpal Ji,

Pending my acess to the original text of the two Tod inscriptions i would likr to hazard to share my hunch here.
The elements of Sandhi and Samas are always at work in compositions- whether in p[rose or poetry. The chances are that the real form of the term taken out by Tod after all may tur out to be at variance both in form and substance. I give an example:
B.S.Dahiya in his book, Jats, The Ancient Rulers...... had interpreted the adjective jiti (with soft t) used in line 5. of the Mandasaur stone slab Inscription of Yashodharman (Malava Samvat 589 ==532 A.D.) to indicate the Jat(with hard t) identity of the same king. This was mere fantasy. In fact the term was preseded by the text AAjaau (in the battle) and followed by the expression vijayate jagatim punashcha. The iull text read together simply means - victorious in battle he (i.e.Yashodharman) again scores victory over the universe (people) in winning their hearts. Dahiya;s far fetched interpretation falls flat.
Lwt us persist in our pursuit of the truth. May be the expression jit in Tod might have something to do with the bardic habit of using expressions lioke victory or victorious for their heroes.

Sir, what is your take on "ajaye jarto hunan" ?

[DrRajpalSingh]

Sir, what is your take on "ajaye jarto hunan" ?

Good question but Friend you would agree that many points emerging from the two inscriptions remain to be interpreted and understood, so kindly reserve the question for next stage of discussion when we arrive at the inscription which is source of your question.

[DrRajpalSingh]

Though the possibility seems to be remote as regards availability of the two inscriptions in question, yet, hope sustains the world, and in view of it, let us appeal to all the readers of the posts on this thread to accelerate their efforts to discover the original inscription as referred to above by Tod.

Meanwhile, here one point arises:
should we totally ignore whatever information is available to us in the form of translated version till the time one ventures to bring before us the original inscriptions or start using it as a tentative starting point to dig deeper in other historical date in our quest of lost identity/pedigree of the Jat race/people or not !

Another point is : What is the basis of our doubt on the translated version of Tod in view of the fact that host of sources existing in original Arabic/Persian/French/Chinese/Greek languages are used frequently in their translated into English version by the historians all over the world ! If any mistake/error is pointed out in them by the scholars later on, the necessary correction is made by them accordingly. Can we not follow this methodology at present !

It is said that even a little available information is better than no clue at all. At least we have been provided with some clues [if not absolute information? as we wish to get !] in the form of translated version, hence we must tentatively use it to interpret and co-relate the information to general accessible and available historical data by forming a hypotheses that Jat/Jit community/ race existed in India when these inscriptions were engraved.

In writing this what I intend to convey is : The inordinate delay the wait for original inscriptions' appearance will lead us nowhere, so move forward and contribute in the form of comments on the available evidence, leaving the responsibility of correctness of the true version to the translator.

[narenderkharb]

This frequent use of Jit/Jitha in the document seems to leave little space for doubt that Tod rightly believed that King Salinder of Salapoori belonged to the Jit/Jat race/community/caste.

However, comments of the participants to this interpretation of the translated version of the document to arrive at some final conclusion, [based on present state of our knowledge about the document under reference when we have no access to the original inscription], are welcome.

I would go with Dr Rana here.
Jit in inscription may stand for something else .
Only a careful reading of the original inscription can give a better picture.

[narenderkharb]

Sir, what is your take on "ajaye jarto hunan" ?

Wanted to ask same question....

I feel Jat historians are misinterpreting it.

[DrRajpalSingh]

I would go with Dr Rana here.
Jit in inscription may stand for something else .
Only a careful reading of the original inscription can give a better picture.

Good.

What alternate interpretation of this word other than Jit or Jat used several times in the inscription, do you or anybody else suggest !

Kindly share.

[narenderkharb]

Good.

What alternate interpretation of this word other than Jit or Jat used several times in the inscription, do you or anybody else suggest !

Kindly share.

Let us be patient .
Our aim is to provide irrefutable evidences for Jat History.

[drssrana2003]

Good.

What alternate interpretation of this word other than Jit or Jat used several times in the inscription, do you or anybody else suggest !

Kindly share.

Dr. Rajpal ji,
Kindly revisit my post No.50 above. There I have given one example of wrong interpretation of the word (Jiti with soft 't') taking and linking it with the term Jat, the caste. There are other examples of the early savants working on and using as evidence seveal texts in Sanskrit inscriptions. I give a few: (i) J.F. Fleet, the celebrated epigarphist misreading a certain text in the Allahabad Pillar Inscription of Samudragupta as 'Babhuva' in place of the correct reading 'bhuvah' and on this basis branded the Inscription as posthumous (got inscribed by some one else on his behalf.It took more than fifty years for scholars to discard the mistake and reinstate the correct readiong and establishing that the Inscription was got inscribed by Samudragupta himself. (2) In the Gwalior Inscription of the time of Mihirakula in line 3. the expression 'abhango yah pashu patimarchayati' had been wrongly understood and translated by Fleet to say that Mihirakula did break the idol of Pashupati (Shiva). Perhaps he took it for granted that Mihirakula being an invading Huna couild only break the icon of Shiva. He had hardly cared to find out that the Inscription was got inscribed by one Matricheta (hard 't' ) on the event of his (by Matricheta) building a Sun temple. Mihirakula had nothing to with the temple. He was simply the reigning king of the area then (3) Professor Shri Ram Goel a distinguished scholar of Gupta History built the entire edifice of his theory of identifying king Chandra of the Mehrauli Iron Pillar Inscription with Samudra- Gupta, relying on the erroneous and long abandoned (by the svholarly world) reading 'dhavena' in place of the settled reading ;bhavena'. There are more instances .I do not wish to go on here.
If we decide to reach correct destination any patient wait should not be construed delay. If a doubt lurks our journey could be distracting. In any case I would prefer not to act as the odd man out. I am ready to contribute my mite according to my capabilities. Please carry on . I shall join whjerever I can say any thing which can carry us forward.

[DrRajpalSingh]

Dr. Rajpal ji,
Kindly revisit my post No.50 above. There I have given one example of wrong interpretation of the word (Jiti with soft 't') taking and linking it with the term Jat, the caste. There are other examples of the early savants working on and using as evidence seveal texts in Sanskrit inscriptions. I give a few: (i) J.F. Fleet, the celebrated epigarphist misreading a certain text in the Allahabad Pillar Inscription of Samudragupta as 'Babhuva' in place of the correct reading 'bhuvah' and on this basis branded the Inscription as posthumous (got inscribed by some one else on his behalf.It took more than fifty years for scholars to discard the mistake and reinstate the correct readiong and establishing that the Inscription was got inscribed by Samudragupta himself. (2) In the Gwalior Inscription of the time of Mihirakula in line 3. the expression 'abhango yah pashu patimarchayati' had been wrongly understood and translated by Fleet to say that Mihirakula did break the idol of Pashupati (Shiva). Perhaps he took it for granted that Mihirakula being an invading Huna couild only break the icon of Shiva. He had hardly cared to find out that the Inscription was got inscribed by one Matricheta (hard 't' ) on the event of his (by Matricheta) building a Sun temple. Mihirakula had nothing to with the temple. He was simply the reigning king of the area then (3) Professor Shri Ram Goel a distinguished scholar of Gupta History built the entire edifice of his theory of identifying king Chandra of the Mehrauli Iron Pillar Inscription with Samudra- Gupta, relying on the erroneous and long abandoned (by the svholarly world) reading 'dhavena' in place of the settled reading ;bhavena'. There are more instances .I do not wish to go on here.
If we decide to reach correct destination any patient wait should not be construed delay. If a doubt lurks our journey could be distracting. In any case I would prefer not to act as the odd man out. I am ready to contribute my mite according to my capabilities. Please carry on . I shall join whjerever I can say any thing which can carry us forward.

Good sign posts provided for which you deserve thanks.

In the meantime, I would like to invite attention of the participants to find out relevance or contradiction in the notes appended by Tod to illustrate his own notes.

Perhaps this could prove useful for reconstruction of history of the persons whose names have been inscribed on the inscriptions under reference in some way or the other and as such to general history of India of those days, if not to the history of Jats.

My aim here to continue discussion on the topic is to make use of the Inscriptions brought to light above 190 years ago to reconstruct history if we the participants could do so by giving considered opinion and as such solid contribution to understanding the historical process of that period of history which needs in-depth research afresh.

I am sure you and other learned members joining the discussion will definitely act as torch bearers in this endeavour !