Jats and Buddhism

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खोतन को मौर्य-मौर जाटों ने आबाद किया

खोतन - इसकी स्थिति यारकन्द के पूर्व में है, जो प्राचीनकाल में तकला मकान मरुस्थल के दक्षिण के राज्यों में सबसे समृद्ध तथा शक्तिशाली था। खोतन को मौर्य-मौर जाटों ने आबाद किया था तथा वहां पर शासन किया था जिसका वर्णन अगले पृष्ठों पर किया जायेगा। खोतन बौद्ध धर्म का महत्त्वपूर्ण केन्द्र था। यहां से अनेक जाट बौद्ध-भिक्षु चीन गये और वहां पर बौद्ध-धर्म को फैलाया। समय-समय पर चीन के बौद्ध-भिक्षु, बौद्ध-धर्म के उच्च अध्ययन के लिए खोतन आते रहते थे। इनमें से प्रसिद्ध ‘चोउ-शे-हिंग’ नामक चीनी भिक्षु है, जो सन् 258 ईस्वी में खोतन गया था।

सन् 291 ईस्वी में मोक्षल नामक भिक्षु खोतन से चीन गया और वहां उसने पंचविंशतिसाहस्रिका पारमिता ग्रन्थ का चीनी भाषा में अनुवाद किया।

पांचवीं सदी के प्रारम्भ (401-433 ईस्वी) में न्गन-यांग नामक चीनी राजकुमार बौद्ध-ग्रन्थों के उच्च अध्ययन के प्रयोजन से खोतन गया था। [जाट वीरों का इतिहास: दलीप सिंह अहलावत, पृष्ठ-331]

खोतन का जाटराज्य

खोतन की स्थिति – तारिम नदी, तकलामकान मरुस्थल, जो कि मध्य एशिया के सिंगकियांग प्रान्त में है, के उत्तर में बहती हुई लोपनोर झील में गिरती है। इस नदी के दक्षिण में यारकन्द, खोतन आदि हैं। बुद्ध के निर्वाण से ठीक 234 वर्ष बाद अर्थात् 250 ई० पू० खोतन राज्य की स्थापना हुई। उस समय सम्राट् अशोक भी जीवित थे।

खोतन की स्थापना के विषय में रॉकहिल ने अपने प्रसिद्ध ग्रन्थ ‘लाइफ ऑफ बुद्ध’ में तिब्बती अनुश्रुति का संग्रह किया, जो इस प्रकार है -

“बुद्ध कश्यप के समय कुछ ऋषि खोतन देश में गये, पर वहां के निवासियों ने उनके प्रति बहुत बुरा बर्ताव किया। इस कारण वे वहां से चले गये। इससे दुःखी होकर नागों ने खोतन को एक झील के रूप में परिवर्तित कर दिया। जब बुद्ध शाक्य मुनि खोतन गये तो उन्होंने खोतन की इस झील को वैज्ञानिक विधि से शुष्क कर दिया और वह देश के मनुष्यों के निवास योग्य हो गया।â€�

कुस्तन द्वारा खोतन राज्य की स्थापना: सम्राट् अशोक (273 ई० पू० से 232 ई० पू०) की महारानी के एक पुत्र उत्पन्न हुआ। ज्योतिषियों की भविष्यवाणी को सत्य मानकर अशोक ने उस बालक का परित्याग कर दिया। भूमि माता द्वारा उस बालक का पालन होता रहा। इसीलिए उसका नाम कुस्तन (कु = भूमि एवं स्तन = चूंची, जिसकी भूमि स्तन है) पड़ गया।

उस समय चीन के एक प्रदेश में राजा बोधिसत्व का शासन था। उसके 999 पुत्र थे। राजा बोधिसत्व ने वैश्रवण से प्रार्थना की, कि उसके एक पुत्र और हो जाय ताकि संख्या पूरी 1000 हो जाए। वैश्रवण बालक कुस्तन को चीन ले गया और बोधिसत्व के पुत्रों में शामिल कर दिया। कुछ दिन बाद राजा के पुत्रों का कुस्तन के साथ मतभेद हो गया। इस कारण वह अपने दस हजार साथियों को लेकर वहां से खोतन के मेस्कर नामक स्थान पर जा पहुंचा। उस समय उसकी आयु 12 वर्ष की थी।

सम्राट् अशोक के क्रोध के कारण उसका एक योग्य एवं विद्वान् यश नामक मन्त्री अपने 7000 साथियों के साथ भारत छोड़कर खोतन में उथेन नदी के तट पर जा पहुंचा। वहां पर उसका मिलाप

1. भारत का इतिहास पृ० 47, हरयाणा विद्यालय शिक्षा बोर्ड भिवानी; हिन्दुस्तान की तारीख उर्दू पृ० 162।

जाट वीरों का इतिहास: दलीप सिंह अहलावत, पृष्ठान्त-364

कुस्तन से हो गया। इन दोनों ने अपने साथियों के सहयोग से खोतन देश को आबाद किय और वहां पर राज्य स्थापित किया, जिसका कुमार कुस्तन राजा बना और यश उसका मंत्री बना। उस समय कुस्तन की आयु 16 वर्ष की थी तथा सम्राट् अशोक जीवित था। भगवान् बुद्ध के निर्वाण (स्वर्गवास 484 ई० पू०) के ठीक 234 वर्ष यानि 250 ई० पू० में खोतन राज्य की स्थापना हुई जहां का धर्म बौद्ध था (1)।

नोट - (1) सम्राट् अशोक मौर्य/मौर गोत्र का जाट था (देखो अध्याय तृतीय, मौर्य-मौर प्रकरण)। उसका पुत्र कुस्तन भी मौर्य या मौर गोत्र का जाट था। यश मन्त्री तथा उसके 7000 साथी जाट थे।

(2) इस खोतन को नाग लोगों ने एक झील बना दिया। इससे ज्ञात होता है कि उस देश में नागवंश के लोग आबाद थे जो कि नागवंशीय जाट थे (देखो तृतीय अध्याय नागवंश)।

तिब्बती जनश्रुति के अनुसार - राजा कुस्तन के बाद उसका पुत्र ये-उ-ल (येउल) खोतन का राजा बना। येउल के बाद उसका पुत्र विजितसम्भव खोतन का शासक बना। उसका उत्तराधिकारी विजितकीर्ति हुआ जो कि कुषाणवंशी सम्राट् कनिष्क का समकालीन था। विजितसम्भव के बाद जो राजा खोतन की राजगद्दी पर बैठे, उनके नाम तिब्बती जनश्रुति में विद्यमान हैं जो उपलब्ध नहीं हैं। इन सब राजाओं के नाम ‘विजित’ शब्द से प्रारम्भ होते हैं, इसीलिए इनके वंश को विजितवंश कहा जा सकता है।

विजितसम्भव के वंशज प्रतापी राजा विजितधर्म (विजितसिंह) ने लगभग 60 ईस्वी में तकला मकान की मरुभूमि के दक्षिण में विद्यमान 13 भारतीय उपनिवेशों को जीतकर अपने राज्य में मिला लिया। उस समय कुषाण राजा विम क्थफिस (जाट राजा) भारत में अपनी शक्ति का विस्तार कर रहा था। 76 ईस्वी में चीन के सम्राट् होती के सेनापति पान-छाओ ने खोतन के इस राजा विजितसिंह से मैत्री स्थापित कर ली तथा इसकी सहायता से मध्य एशिया के अनेक राज्यों से चीन का आधिपत्य स्वीकार करा लिया। पान-छाओ पश्चिम में कैस्पियन सागर तक चीन का प्रभुत्व स्थापित कर सका।

कुषाणवंशी (जाट) सम्राट् कनिष्क की विजयों के कारण मध्यएशिया कुषाण साम्राज्य के अन्तर्गत हो गया था और खोतन के राजा ने भी उसकी अधीनता स्वीकार कर ली थी। पर कुषाण वासुदेव के शासनकाल (152-186 ई०) में कुषाण साम्राज्य में जब शिथिलता आने लगी, तो खोतन स्वतन्त्र हो गया। (सम्राट् कनिष्क की विजय, पिछले पृष्टों पर चीन में जाटराज्य के प्रकरण में देखो)

चीनी साहित्य द्वारा भी इस तथ्य की पुष्टि होती है कि खोतन के राजा विजितसम्भव के पश्चात् ग्यारहवीं पीढ़ी में विजितधर्म (विजितसिंह) राजा हुआ था और वह बौद्धधर्म का कट्टर अनुयायी था। उसने काशगर राज्य पर आक्रमण करके अपने अधीन कर लिया था।

1. तिब्बती जनश्रुति के आधार पर रॉकहिल के प्रसिद्ध ग्रंथ “लाइफ ऑफ बुद्धâ€� के हवाले से सत्यकेतु विद्यालंकार ने अपनी पुस्तक “मध्यएशिया तथा चीन में भारतीय संस्कृतिâ€� के पृष्ठ 89-90 पर लिखा है। जाट इतिहास पृ० 193-194, ले० ठा० देशराज जिसने पुस्तक “मौर्य साम्राज्य का इतिहासâ€� पृ० 539 का हवाला दिया है।

जाट वीरों का इतिहास: दलीप सिंह अहलावत, पृष्ठान्त-365

पांचवीं सदी के प्रारम्भ में श्वेत हूणों (जाटों ने उसे आक्रान्त किया और छठी सदी में तुर्कों ने। सातवीं सदी के शुरु में खोतन के पुराने राजाओं (मौर्य-मौर) के वंशज विजितसंग्राम नामक राजा ने खोतन को तुर्कों की अधीनता से स्वतन्त्र कराया।

राजा विजितसंग्राम ने 632 ई० में एक दूतमण्डल मैत्री हेतु चीन के सम्राट् के पास भेजा और तीन वर्ष बाद अपने पुत्र को भी चीन के दरबार में भेज दिया। 648 ई० में खोतन का राजा जो विजितसंग्राम का उत्तराधिकारी था, स्वयं चीन के दरबार में उपस्थित हुआ था। इस काल में चीन में तांगवंश के राजाओं का शासन था, जो अत्यन्त शक्तिशाली तथा महत्त्वाकांक्षी थे। ये तांग जाटवंश के राजा थे। (देखो चीन में तांगवंश के जाट राजाओं का शासन, प्रकरण)।

सातवीं सदी में खोतन का अन्तिम राजा विजितवाहम था, जिसे तिब्बत के राजा ने हराकर खोतन राज्य को अपने अधीन कर लिया था। चीन के तांगवंशज जाट राजाओं ने अपनी शक्ति फिर से बढ़ाई और आठवीं सदी के अन्त से पूर्व ही उन्होंने मध्यएशिया के विविध प्रदेशों पर से तिब्बती शासन का अन्त कर दिया[14]।

जाट्स दी ऐनशन्ट रूलर्ज पृ० 144 पर बी० एस० दहिया ने लिखा है कि मौर्यों का शासन खोतन, मध्य एशिया के अन्य क्षेत्रों और कश्मीर पर रहा (Elliot and Dawson, op. cit, Vol.1)।

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History of Darad clan

Darad (दरद) Darada (दरद)/Darar (दराड) is one of The Mahabharata Tribes. Kabul city in Afghanistan was founded by Darad gotra Jats.[1] Dilip Singh Ahlawat has mentioned it as one of the ruling Jat clans in Central Asia. [2]

Jat Gotras from Darada

Darad (दरद) - Dilip Singh Ahlawat has mentioned Darad Jat clan as one of the ruling Jat clans in Central Asia.[3]

Daral (दराल) Drall (दराल) Darad (दरद) is the surname of Jats living in the outskirts of Delhi are Chandravanshi Jats descendants of Druhyu (द्रुह्यु) son of Yayati. [4]

Daar (दार) Dar (दार) Diyar (दियार) gotra of Jats originated from country named Darad (दरद), the place of origin of Sindhu River. [5]

Visit by Fahian

James Legge[6] writes about the travel of Fahian: From this (the travellers) went westwards towards North India, and after being on the way for a month, they succeeded in getting across and through the range of the Onion mountains. The snow rests on them both winter and summer. There are also among them venomous dragons, which, when provoked, spit forth poisonous winds, and cause showers of snow and storms of sand and gravel. Not one in ten thousand of those who encounter these dangers escapes with his life. The people of the country call the range by the name of “The Snow mountains.� When (the travellers) had got through them, they were in North India, and immediately on entering its borders, found themselves in a small kingdom called T’o-leih,(1) where also there were many monks, all students of the hinayana.

(1) T’o-leih: Eitel and others identify this with Darada, the country of the ancient Dardae, the region near Dardus; lat. 30d 11s N., lon. 73d 54s E. See E. H. p. 30. I am myself in more than doubt on the point. Cunningham (“Ancient Geography of India,� p. 82) says “Darel is a valley on the right or western bank of the Indus, now occupied by Dardus or Dards, from whom it received its name.� But as I read our narrative, Fa-hien is here on the eastern bank of the Indus, and only crosses to the western bank as described in the next chapter. [7]

References:
1. Ram Swarup Joon:History of the Jats/Chapter III
2. Jat History Dalip Singh Ahlawat/Chapter IV, pp.341-342
3. Jat History Dalip Singh Ahlawat/Chapter IV, pp.341-342
4. Jat History Dalip Singh Ahlawat/Chapter IV, pp.341-342
5. Mahendra Singh Arya et al: Adhunik Jat Itihas, p.255
6. A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms/Chapter 6
7. A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms/Chapter 6,f.n.1

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चीन में तांगवंश के जाट राजाओं का शासन

दलीप सिंह अहलावत[1] के अनुसार तांगवंश के शासन का प्रारम्भ 618 ई० में हुआ था और इसका प्रथम राजा काओत्सु था जिसने खोतान देश को भी अपने अधीन कर लिया था। इस कारण से वहां के राजा चीन के साथ मैत्री-सम्बन्ध कायम रखने के उत्सुक रहते थे।

सातवीं शताब्दी के शुरु में विजितसंग्राम नामक राजा ने खोतन देश को तुर्कों की अधीनता से स्वतन्त्र करा लिया था। यह राजा खोतन के पुराने राजाओं (जाट) का वंशज था। इस राजा ने 632 ई० में अपना एक दूतमंडल चीन के तांग वंशज सम्राट् के दरबार में भेजा और तीन वर्ष बाद अपने पुत्र को भी चीन के दरबार में भेजा। 628 ई० में राजा, जो कि विजितसंग्राम का उत्तराधिकारी था, स्वयं चीन के राजदरबार में उपस्थित हुआ था। इस काल में चीन में तंगवंश के राजाओं का शासन था, जो अत्यन्त शक्तिशाली तथा महत्त्वाकांक्षी थे।

सातवीं सदी में तिब्बत में ‘स्रोङ्-गचन-पो’ नाम का शक्तिशाली राजा हुआ। उसने पड़ौस के अनेक राज्यों को जीत लिया। इसके उत्तराधिकारियों ने खोतन को भी तिब्बत की अधीनता में कर लिया। खोतन का अन्तिम राजा विजितवाहम था।

चीन के तांगवंशी राजाओं ने अपने शक्ति फिर से बढ़ाई और आठवीं सदी का अन्त होने से पूर्व ही मध्य एशिया के विविध प्रदेशों पर से तिब्बत के शासन का अन्त कर दिया।[2]

संदर्भ -

1. जाट वीरों का इतिहास: दलीप सिंह अहलावत, पृष्ठ-326,327
2. मध्य एशिया तथा चीन में भारतीय संस्कृति, पृ० 94-95, लेखक सत्यकेतु विद्यालंकार।

[lrburdak]

Tang dynasty (618–907 AD) (pinyin: Táng Cháo; Wade–Giles: T'ang Ch'ao) was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire. On June 18, 618, Li Yuan declared himself the emperor of a new dynasty, the Tang.[1] Li Yuan's family belonged to the northwest military aristocracy prevalent during the Sui dynasty[2][3]

The dynasty was briefly interrupted when Empress Wu Zetian seized the throne, proclaiming the Second Zhou dynasty (690–705) and becoming the only Chinese empress regnant. Wu Zetian (pinyin: Wǔ Zétiān) was the only female emperor of China in more than four millennia. Wu was her patronymic surname, which she retained, according to traditional Chinese practice, after marriage to Gaozong, of the Li family. Emperor Taizong gave her the name Mei (媚), meaning "pretty."

References -

1. Graff, David Andrew (2000), "Dou Jiande's dilemma: Logistics, strategy, and state", in van de Ven, Hans, Warfare in Chinese History, Leiden: Koninklijke Brill, pp. 78, ISBN 90-04-11774-1

2.Ebrey, Walthall & Palais 2006, pp. 90–91.

3.Adshead, S. A. M. (2004), T'ang China: The Rise of the East in World History, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 1-4039-3456-8 (hardback).pp.40-41

[lrburdak]

Tang dynasty in China (Contd)

Captain Dalip Singh Ahlawat calls Tangs of China as Jats. He has not cited reason for this fact. It may be because we have in the list of Jat clans - Tung (तुंग) Tunga (तुंग)/ Tang (तंग) Tangu (तांगू)/Tang (तांग) is gotra of Jats in Punjab.

Tung Jat clan people emigrated from Delhi and founded village Tung (Amritsar) about the beginning of 18th century. He joined Ramgarhia misl under Jassa Singh. Gurmukh Singh Tung was a Punjab Chief of Tung-Jat Clan.

The Tang dynasty was briefly interrupted when Empress Wu Zetian seized the throne, proclaiming the Second Zhou dynasty (690–705) and becoming the only Chinese empress regnant. Wu Zetian (pinyin: Wǔ Zétiān) was the only female emperor of China in more than four millennia. Wu Zetian also seems to be Jat woman. Her name Mei impresses me. We find large number Jat women having this name Mei, at least in Rajasthan. It has Chinese origin meaning "pretty."

[lrburdak]

Rule of Ashoka Maurya's son in Gandhara

A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms, by Fa-hsien: James Legge, 1886

Provides us

Chapter 10: Gandhara. Legends of Buddha.

The travellers, going downwards from this towards the east, in five days came to the country of Gandhara,[1] the place where Dharma-vivardhana,[2] the son of Asoka,[3] ruled. When Buddha was a Bodhisattva, he gave his eyes also for another man here;[4] and at the spot they have also reared a large tope, adorned with layers of gold and silver plates. The people of the country were mostly students of the hinayana.

Footnotes

1 Eitel says “an ancient kingdom, corresponding to the region about Dheri and Banjour.” But see note 5.

2 Dharma-vivardhana is the name in Sanskrit, represented by the Fa Yi {.} {.} of the text.

3 Asoka is here mentioned for the first time; — the Constantine of the Buddhist society, and famous for the number of viharas and topes which he erected. He was the grandson of Chandragupta (i.q. Sandracottus), a rude adventurer, who at one time was a refugee in the camp of Alexander the Great; and within about twenty years afterwards drove the Greeks out of India, having defeated Seleucus, the Greek ruler of the Indus provinces. He had by that time made himself king of Magadha. His grandson was converted to Buddhism by the bold and patient demeanour of an Arhat whom he had ordered to be buried alive, and became a most zealous supporter of the new faith. Dr. Rhys Davids (Sacred Books of the East, vol. xi, p. xlvi) says that “Asoka’s coronation can be fixed with absolute certainty within a year or two either way of 267 B.C.”

4 This also is a Jataka story; but Eitel thinks it may be a myth, constructed from the story of the blinding of Dharma-vivardhana.

[lrburdak]

Kanishka the Jat Ruler of Peshawar

A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms, by Fa-hsien: James Legge, 1886

Chapter 12: Purushapura, or Peshawur. Prophecy About King Kanishka and His Tope. Buddha’s Alms-Bowl. Death of Hwuy-Ying.

Going southwards from Gandhara, (the travellers) in four days arrived at the kingdom of Purushapura.[1] Formerly, when Buddha was travelling in this country with his disciples, he said to Ananda,[2] “After my pari-nirvana,[3] there will be a king named Kanishka,[4] who shall on this spot build a tope.” This Kanishka was afterwards born into the world; and (once), when he had gone forth to look about him, Sakra, Ruler of Devas, wishing to excite the idea in his mind, assumed the appearance of a little herd-boy, and was making a tope right in the way (of the king), who asked what sort of thing he was making. The boy said, “I am making a tope for Buddha.” The king said, “Very good;” and immediately, right over the boy’s tope, he (proceeded to) rear another, which was more than four hundred cubits high, and adorned with layers of all the precious substances. Of all the topes and temples which (the travellers) saw in their journeyings, there was not one comparable to this in solemn beauty and majestic grandeur. There is a current saying that this is the finest tope in Jambudvipa.[5] When the king’s tope was completed, the little tope (of the boy) came out from its side on the south, rather more than three cubits in height.

Buddha’s alms-bowl is in this country. Formerly, a king of Yueh-she[6] raised a large force and invaded this country, wishing to carry the bowl away. Having subdued the kingdom, as he and his captains were sincere believers in the Law of Buddha, and wished to carry off the bowl, they proceeded to present their offerings on a great scale. When they had done so to the Three Precious Ones, he made a large elephant be grandly caparisoned, and placed the bowl upon it. But the elephant knelt down on the ground, and was unable to go forward. Again he caused a four-wheeled waggon to be prepared in which the bowl was put to be conveyed away. Eight elephants were then yoked to it, and dragged it with their united strength; but neither were they able to go forward. The king knew that the time for an association between himself and the bowl had not yet arrived,[7] and was sad and deeply ashamed of himself. Forthwith he built a tope at the place and a monastery, and left a guard to watch (the bowl), making all sorts of contributions.

There may be there more than seven hundred monks. When it is near midday, they bring out the bowl, and, along with the common people,[8] make their various offerings to it, after which they take their midday meal. In the evening, at the time of incense, they bring the bowl out again.[9] It may contain rather more than two pecks, and is of various colours, black predominating, with the seams that show its fourfold composition distinctly marked.[10] Its thickness is about the fifth of an inch, and it has a bright and glossy lustre. When poor people throw into it a few flowers, it becomes immediately full, while some very rich people, wishing to make offering of many flowers, might not stop till they had thrown in hundreds, thousands, and myriads of bushels, and yet would not be able to fill it.[11]

Pao-yun and Sang-king here merely made their offerings to the alms-bowl, and (then resolved to) go back. Hwuy-king, Hwuy-tah, and Tao-ching had gone on before the rest to Negara,[12] to make their offerings at (the places of) Buddha’s shadow, tooth, and theflat-bone of his skull. (There) Hwuy-king fell ill, and Tao-ching remained to look after him, while Hwuy-tah came alone to Purushapura, and saw the others, and (then) he with Pao-yun and Sang-king took their way back to the land of Ts’in. Hwuy-king[13] came to his end[14] in the monastery of Buddha’s alms-bowl, and on this Fa-hien went forward alone towards the place of the flat-bone of Buddha’s skull.

Footnotes

1 The modern Peshawur, lat. 34d 8s N., lon. 71d 30s E.

2 A first cousin of Sakyamuni, and born at the moment when he attained to Buddhaship. Under Buddha’s teaching, Ananda became an Arhat, and is famous for his strong and accurate memory; and he played an important part at the first council for the formation of the Buddhist canon. The friendship between Sakyamuni and Ananda was very close and tender; and it is impossible to read much of what the dying Buddha said to him and of him, as related in the Maha-pari-nirvana Sutra, without being moved almost to tears. Ananda is to reappear on earth as Buddha in another Kalpa. See E. H., p. 9, and the Sacred Books of the East, vol. xi.

3 On his attaining to nirvana, Sakyamuni became the Buddha, and had no longer to mourn his being within the circle of transmigration, and could rejoice in an absolute freedom from passion, and a perfect purity. Still he continued to live on for forty-five years, till he attained to pari-nirvana, and had done with all the life of sense and society, and had no more exercise of thought. He died; but whether he absolutely and entirely /ceased/ to be, in any sense of the word /being/, it would be difficult to say. Probably he himself would not and could not have spoken definitely on the point. So far as our use of language is concerned, apart from any assured faith in and hope of immortality, his pari-nirvana was his death.

4 Kanishka appeared, and began to reign, early in our first century, about A.D. 10. He was the last of three brothers, whose original seat was in Yueh-she, immediately mentioned, or Tukhara. Converted by the sudden appearance of a saint, he became a zealous Buddhist, and patronised the system as liberally as Asoka had done. The finest topes in the north-west of India are ascribed to him; he was certainly a great man and a magnificent sovereign.

5 Jambudvipa is one of the four great continents of the universe, representing the inhabited world as fancied by the Buddhists, and so called because it resembles in shape the leaves of the jambu tree. It is south of mount Meru, and divided among four fabulous kings (E. H., p. 36). It is often used, as here perhaps, merely as the Buddhist name for India.

6 This king was perhaps Kanishka himself, Fa-hien mixing up, in an inartistic way, different legends about him. Eitel suggests that a relic of the old name of the country may still exist in that of the Jats or Juts of the present day. A more common name for it is Tukhara, and he observes that the people were the Indo-Scythians of the Greeks, and the Tartars of Chinese writers, who, driven on by the Huns (180 B.C.), conquered Transoxiana, destroyed the Bactrian kingdom (126 B.C.), and finally conquered the Punjab, Cashmere, and great part of India, their greatest king being Kanishak (E. H., p. 152).

7 Watters, clearly understanding the thought of the author in this sentence, renders —“his destiny did not extend to a connexion with the bowl;” but the term “destiny” suggests a controlling or directing power without. The king thought that his virtue in the past was not yet sufficient to give him possession of the bowl.

8 The text is simply “those in white clothes.” This may mean “the laity,” or the “upasakas;” but it is better to take the characters in their common Chinese acceptation, as meaning “commoners,” “men who have no rank.” See in Williams’ Dictionary under {.}.

9 I do not wonder that Remusat should give for this —“et s’en retournent apres.” But Fa-hien’s use of {.} in the sense of “in the same way” is uniform throughout the narrative.

10 Hardy’s M. B., p. 183, says:—“The alms-bowl, given by Mahabrahma, having vanished (about the time that Gotama became Buddha), each of the four guardian deities brought him an alms-bowl of emerald, but he did not accept them. They then brought four bowls made of stone, of the colour of the mung fruit; and when each entreated that his own bowl might be accepted, Buddha caused them to appear as if formed into a single bowl, appearing at the upper rim as if placed one within the other.” See the account more correctly given in the “Buddhist Birth Stories,” p. 110.

11 Compare the narrative in Luke’s Gospel, xxi. 1-4.

12 See chapter viii.

13 This, no doubt, should be Hwuy-ying. King was at this time ill in Nagara, and indeed afterwards he dies in crossing the Little Snowy Mountains; but all the texts make him die twice. The confounding of the two names has been pointed out by Chinese critics.

14 “Came to his end;” i.e., according to the text, “proved the impermanence and uncertainty,” namely, of human life. See Williams’ Dictionary under {.}. The phraseology is wholly Buddhistic.

[lrburdak]

Fahian's visit of Mathura

Book: A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms, by Fa-hsien: James Legge, 1886

Chapter 16: On to Mathura or Muttra. Condition and Customs of Central India; of the Monks, Viharas, and Monasteries.

We can read full Wiki text at http://www.jatland.com/home/A_Record..._16#Chapter_16

I quote some important portion of it for discussion.

"From this place they travelled south-east, passing by a succession of very many monasteries, with a multitude of monks, who might be counted by myriads. After passing all these places, they came to a country named Ma-t’aou-lo.[1] They still followed the course of the P’oo-na[2] river, on the banks of which, left and right, there were twenty monasteries, which might contain three thousand monks; and (here) the Law of Buddha was still more flourishing. Everywhere, from the Sandy Desert, in all the countries of India, the kings had been firm believers in that Law."

Footnotes

1 Muttra, “the peacock city;” lat. 27d 30s N., lon. 77d 43s E. (Hunter); the birthplace of Krishna, whose emblem is the peacock.

2 This must be the Jumna, or Yamuna. Why it is called, as here, the P’oo-na has yet to be explained.

Discussion -

1. Here James Legge has mentioned Muttra, “the peacock city;”; the birthplace of Krishna, whose emblem is the peacock. It means he takes cognizance of Krishna at that time and we should have some evidences of his worship also. Buddhists had not ignored the Hindu Gods.

2. They still followed the course of the P’oo-na river, on the banks of which, left and right. James Legge writes it Yamuna but he also says Why it is called, as here, the P’oo-na has yet to be explained. I strongly believe that in 400 AD at the time of Fahian's visit to Mathura there was a river known as Poona, which I think derives name from Punia clan as we have discussed already Fahian's visit to Pon-ha Kingdom.

Fahian mentions worship and offerings to Buddhist characters like - Sariputtra, Maha-maudgalyayana, Ananda, Kasyapa, Rahula, Prajna-paramita, to Manjusri, and to Kwan-she-yin.


Here rest of the Deities are clear except Kwan-she-yin.

Who is Kwan-she-yin?

James Legge writes that in Mathura the Students of the mahayana present offerings to the Kwan-she-yin, The Chinese name is a mistranslation of the Sanskrit name Avalokitesvra.

Here James Legge admits that the translation of Kwan-she-yin in to Sanskrit as Avalokitesvra is wrong.

I tried to find the meaning of Kwan in other languages of the Buddhis region.

Kwan or Guan (pinyin: Guān) is a Chinese surname. It is also a Vietnamese surname that uses the same character, romanised as Quan. The Vietnamese surname, Quan and the Japanese surname, Seki, was derived from the same Chinese character as the Chinese surname (The Japanese Kanji is a Shinjitai of the Chinese character). It is Romanized Kwon in Korean. It is also a Japanese surname, Seki that uses the same character.

Kuan Yin or Guanyin, is a short form for Kuan-shi Yin, is an East Asian deity of mercy, and a bodhisattva associated with compassion as venerated by Mahayana Buddhists. The name Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means "Perceiving the Sounds (or Cries) of the World".

Guānyīn is a translation from the Sanskrit Avalokitasvara, referring to the Mahāyāna bodhisattva of the same name. Another later name for this bodhisattva is GuānzìzÃ*i. It was initially thought that the Chinese mis-transliterated the word Avalokiteśvara as Avalokitasvara which explained why Xuanzang translated it as GuānzìzÃ*i instead of Guānyīn. However, the original form was indeed Avalokitasvara with the ending svara ("sound, noise"), which means "sound perceiver", literally "he who looks down upon sound" (i.e., the cries of sentient beings who need his help). This is the exact equivalent of the Chinese translation Guānyīn. This etymology was furthered in the Chinese by the tendency of some Chinese translators, notably Kumarajiva, to use the variant Guānshìyīn, literally "he who perceives the world's lamentations"—wherein lok was read as simultaneously meaning both "to look" and "world".

The Japanese surname Kanji is nothing but a Variant of Kanha. Fahian takes cognizance of word Muttra as explained earlier and related with Krishna at that time. Buddhists had not ignored the Hindu Gods. People had not forgotten Krishna during the period when they followed Buddhism. I consider Kwan-she-yin to be nothing else but Kanha.

It is a matter of research to find the River mentioned as Poona by Fahian. As regards to relation of Kanha with Punia clan we find in the History of Punia - Kanha Punia (कान्हाजी पूनिया) or Kanhadeo (कान्हादेव). According to James Todd the republic of Punia Jats in Jangladesh, whose chief was Kanha Punia having 300 villages in his state with capital at Jhansal. The districts included in his state were Rawatsar, Biramsar, Dandusar, Gandaisi [James Todd, Annals of Bikaner, p. 139]

[lrburdak]

Visit of Sankisa by Fahian and mention of Utpala

Fa-hien, the Chinese pilgrim visited Sankisa between 399 and 414 A.D., during the reign of Chandragupta II. Sankisa is ancient village located about 47 km from Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh.

James Legge [ A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms/Chapter 17] writes about Fahian's travel to Sankisa. I reproduce here historically important content.

From Mathura Fahian proceeded south-east for eighteen yojanas, and found themselves in a kingdom called Sankasya, at the place where Buddha came down, after ascending to the Trayastrimsas heaven, and there preaching for three months his Law for the benefit of his mother (Buddha’s mother, Maya and Mahamaya).

Fahian writes about a bhikshuni Utpala thought in her heart, “To-day the kings, with their ministers and people, will all be meeting (and welcoming) Buddha. I am (but) a woman; how shall I succeed in being the first to see him?” Buddha immediately, by his spirit-like power, changed her into the appearance of a holy Chakravartti king, and she was the foremost of all in doing reverence to him. At the place where the bhikshuni Utpala was the first to do reverence to Buddha, a tope has now been built. Eitel gives the name Utpala with the same Chinese phonetisation as in the text, but not as the name of any bhikshuni. The Sanskrit word, however, is explained by “blue lotus flowers;” and Hsuan-chwang calls her the nun “Lotus-flower colour”— the same as Hardy’s Upulwan and Uppalawarna.

Behind the vihara Ashoka erected a stone pillar, about fifty cubits high, with a lion on the top of it.

Fa-hien spent his retreat at the Dragon-Shrine and when it was over he travelled seven yojanas to the south-east, which brought him to Kannauj. Sankisa was one of the greatest Buddhist pilgrims centre at the time of Fa-hien's visit. Fa-hien remarks

"This country is very productive and the people are flourishing and happy beyond compare. When man of other nations come, care is taken of all of them and they are provided with what they require".

Note - It is to be noted that Utpala belongs to Utpal clan,which is a Jat clan.

Utpal (उत्पल) or Opal (ओपल) Uppal (उप्पल) is a gotra of Jats in Punjab. They are also found in Gujarat where they are called as Uplana. Opal clan is found in Afghanistan.

In Mahabharata

Vana Parva, Mahabharata/Book III Chapter 85 tells us in shloka 11 that in the country of Panchala there is a Forest called Utpala (उत्पल) (III.85.11), where Vishwamitra of Kushika's race had performed sacrifices with his son, and where beholding the relics of Viswamitra's superhuman power, Rama, the son of Jamadagni, recited the praises of his ancestry.

पाञ्चालेषु च कौरव्य कथयन्त्य उत्पलावतम
विश्वा मित्रॊ ऽयजद यत्र शक्रेण सह कौशिकः
यत्रानुवंशं भगवाञ जामदग्न्यस तथा जगौ (Mahabharata:III.85.11)

History

Opiai is the Greek name for Opal and Utpala of Sanskrit. [1]

Raja Partha of this clan purchased food grains at higher rates and sold it at rates hundreds of times higher, his son was Unmattavanti (उन्मत्तवन्ति). [2][3]

Bhim Singh Dahiya writes that Megasthenes has mentioned a large number of Jat clans out of which Oplai may be identified with Opal.[4]

Fahian's mention of Utpala and agri-productivity of the area supports what historians have mentioned !!!

References -

1. Jats the Ancient Rulers (A clan study)/Porus and the Mauryas, Bhim Singh Dahiya, p.167

2. Mahendra Singh Arya et al.: Ādhunik Jat Itihas,

3. Jat History Dalip Singh Ahlawat/Chapter XI,p. 995

4. Jats the Ancient Rulers (A clan study)/Porus and the Mauryas, p.167

[DrRajpalSingh]

Visit of Sankisa by Fahian and mention of Utpala

Fa-hien, the Chinese pilgrim visited Sankisa between 399 and 414 A.D., during the reign of Chandragupta II. Sankisa is ancient village located about 47 km from Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh.

James Legge [ A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms/Chapter 17] writes about Fahian's travel to Sankisa. I reproduce here historically important content.....

Note - It is to be noted that Utpala belongs to Utpal clan,which is a Jat clan.

Utpal (उत्पल) or Opal (ओपल) Uppal (उप्पल) is a gotra of Jats in Punjab. They are also found in Gujarat where they are called as Uplana. Opal clan is found in Afghanistan. ...............

A word of caution :

In identification of Jat clans we must admit that many of the gotras of Jats, khatris, Rajputs, Nais, Sainis, Ahirs are similar. Hence no exclusiveness for Jat opal/uppal can be claimed here too.

The identification of Opal or Uppal as a gotra of Jats in either Punjab or Gujrat with present quote from a place in Farrukhabad does not seem logical. If some of Jats bearing this gotra could be located/ identified in the vicinity of the place visited by the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, then only we could make out allowance to their migration from there to other far flung areas.

On the other hand, Uppal (उप्पल) is a gotra of Khatris in Punjab and Haryana who do not claim to ever have been Jats in the past. I know personally a good number of Uppals in Yamunanagar who are Khatris and have nothing to do with Jats.


Comments of the participants are invited.

[lrburdak]

Khatris are also Jats. We have to find out line of demarcation between Khatri Jats and nonJats ?

[DrRajpalSingh]

Khatris are also Jats. We have to find out line of demarcation between Khatri Jats and nonJats ?

Thanks.

Khatri Jat gotra has nothing to do with my query Friend.

Nonetheless if your hypothesis is accepted, we will have to tell Khatris that they are Jats who have forgotten their past history !

But where is that lost history which could be narrated to them to convince them that you are Jats .

[lrburdak]

Fahian's Visit to Vaisali

A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms, by Fa-hsien: James Legge, 1886

Chapter 25: Vaisali. The Tope Called “Weapons Laid Down.” The Council of Vaisali.

East from this city (Kusinagara) ten yojanas, (the travellers) came to the kingdom of Vaisali. North of the city so named is a large forest, having in it the double-galleried vihara[1] where Buddha dwelt, and the tope over half the body of Ananda.[2] Inside the city the woman Ambapali[3] built a vihara in honour of Buddha, which is now standing as it was at first. Three le south of the city, on the west of the road, (is the) garden (which) the same Ambapali presented to Buddha, in which he might reside. When Buddha was about to attain to his pari-nirvana, as he was quitting the city by the west gate, he turned round, and, beholding the city on his right, said to them, “Here I have taken my last walk.”[4] Men subsequently built a tope at this spot.

Three le north-west of the city there is a tope called, “Bows and weapons laid down.” The reason why it got that name was this:— The inferior wife of a king, whose country lay along the river Ganges, brought forth from her womb a ball of flesh. The superior wife, jealous of the other, said, “You have brought forth a thing of evil omen,” and immediately it was put into a box of wood and thrown into the river. Farther down the stream another king was walking and looking about, when he saw the wooden box (floating) in the water. (He had it brought to him), opened it, and found a thousand little boys, upright and complete, and each one different from the others. He took them and had them brought up. They grew tall and large, and very daring, and strong, crushing all opposition in every expedition which they undertook. By and by they attacked the kingdom of their real father, who became in consequence greatly distressed and sad. His inferior wife asked what it was that made him so, and he replied, “That king has a thousand sons, daring and strong beyond compare, and he wishes with them to attack my kingdom; this is what makes me sad.” The wife said, “You need not be sad and sorrowful. Only make a high gallery on the wall of the city on the east; and when the thieves come, I shall be able to make them retire.” The king did as she said; and when the enemies came, she said to them from the tower, “You are my sons; why are you acting so unnaturally and rebelliously?” They replied, “If you do not believe me,” she said, “look, all of you, towards me, and open your mouths.” She then pressed her breasts with her two hands, and each sent forth 500 jets of milk, which fell into the mouths of the thousand sons. The thieves (thus) knew that she was their mother, and laid down their bows and weapons.[5] The two kings, the fathers, thereupon fell into reflection, and both got to be Pratyeka Buddhas.[6] The tope of the two Pratyeka Buddhas is still existing.

In a subsequent age, when the World-honoured one had attained to perfect Wisdom (and become Buddha), he said to is disciples, “This is the place where I in a former age laid down my bow and weapons.”[7] It was thus that subsequently men got to know (the fact), and raised the tope on this spot, which in this way received its name. The thousand little boys were the thousand Buddhas of this Bhadra-kalpa.[8]

It was by the side of the “Weapons-laid-down” tope that Buddha, having given up the idea of living longer, said to Ananda, “In three months from this I will attain to pavi-nirvana;” and king Mara9 had so fascinated and stupefied Ananda, that he was not able to ask Buddha to remain longer in this world.

Three or four le east from this place there is a tope (commemorating the following occurrence):— A hundred years after the pari-nirvana of Buddha, some Bhikshus of Vaisali went wrong in the matter of the disciplinary rules in ten particulars, and appealed for their justification to what they said were the words of Buddha. Hereupon the Arhats and Bhikshus observant of the rules, to the number in all of 700 monks, examined afresh and collated the collection of disciplinary books.[10] Subsequently men built at this place the tope (in question), which is still existing.

Footnotes


1 It is difficult to tell what was the peculiar form of this vihara from which it gets its name; something about the construction of its door, or cupboards, or galleries.

2 See the explanation of this in the next chapter.

3 Ambapali, Amrapali, or Amradarika, “the guardian of the Amra (probably the mango) tree,” is famous in Buddhist annals. See the account of her in M. B., pp. 456-8. She was a courtesan. She had been in many narakas or hells, was 100,000 times a female beggar, and 10,000 times a prostitute; but maintaining perfect continence during the period of Kasyapa Buddha, Sakyamuni’s predecessor, she had been born a devi, and finally appeared in earth under an Amra tree in Vaisali. There again she fell into her old ways, and had a son by king Bimbisara; but she was won over by Buddha to virtue and chastity, renounced the world, and attained to the state of an Arhat. See the earliest account of Ambapali’s presentation of the garden in “Buddhist Suttas,” pp. 30-33, and the note there from Bishop Bigandet on pp. 33, 34.

4 Beal gives, “In this place I have performed the last religious act of my earthly career;” Giles, “This is the last place I shall visit;” Remusat, “C’est un lieu ou je reviendrai bien longtemps apres ceci.” Perhaps the “walk” to which Buddha referred had been for meditation.

5 See the account of this legend in the note in M. B., pp. 235, 236, different, but not less absurd. The first part of Fa-hien’s narrative will have sent the thoughts of some of my readers to the exposure of the infant Moses, as related in Exodus. [Certainly did. — JB.]

6 See chap. xiii, note 14.

7 Thus Sakyamuni had been one of the thousand little boys who floated in the box in the Ganges. How long back the former age was we cannot tell. I suppose the tope of the two fathers who became Pratyeka Buddhas had been built like the one commemorating the laying down of weapons after Buddha had told his disciples of the strange events in the past.

8 Bhadra-kalpa, “the Kalpa of worthies or sages.” “This,” says Eitel, p. 22, “is a designation for a Kalpa of stability, so called because 1000 Buddhas appear in the course of it. Our present period is a Bhadra-kalpa, and four Buddhas have already appeared. It is to last 236 million years, but over 151 millions have already elapsed.”

9 “The king of demons.” The name Mara is explained by “the murderer,” “the destroyer of virtue,” and similar appellations. “He is,” says Eitel, “the personification of lust, the god of love, sin, and death, the arch-enemy of goodness, residing in the heaven Paranirmita Vasavartin on the top of the Kamadhatu. He assumes different forms, especially monstrous ones, to tempt or frighten the saints, or sends his daughters, or inspires wicked men like Devadatta or the Nirgranthas to do his work. He is often represented with 100 arms, and riding on an elephant.” The oldest form of the legend in this paragraph is in “Buddhist Suttas,” Sacred Books of the East, vol. xi, pp. 41-55, where Buddha says that, if Ananda had asked him thrice, he would have postponed his death.

10 Or the Vinaya-pitaka. The meeting referred to was an important one, and is generally spoken of as the second Great Council of the Buddhist Church. See, on the formation of the Buddhist Canon, Hardy’s E. M., chap. xviii, and the last chapter of Davids’ Manual, on the History of the Order. The first Council was that held at Rajagriha, shortly after Buddha’s death, under the presidency of Kasyapa; — say about B.C. 410. The second was that spoken of here; — say about B.C. 300. In Davids’ Manual (p. 216) we find the ten points of discipline, in which the heretics (I can use that term here) claimed at least indulgence. Two meetings were held to consider and discuss them. At the former the orthodox party barely succeeded in carrying their condemnation of the laxer monks; and a second and larger meeting, of which Fa-hien speaks, was held in consequence, and a more emphatic condemnation passed. At the same time all the books and subjects of discipline seem to have undergone a careful revision.

The Corean text is clearer than the Chinese as to those who composed the Council — the Arhats and orthodox monks. The leader among them was a Yasas, or Yasada, or Yedsaputtra, who had been a disciple of Ananda, and must therefore have been a very old man.

[lrburdak]

Points of Discussion

It is interesting to read the story told in the narrative. The thousand sons of inferior wife of a king, whose country lay along the river Ganges were floating in wooden box in the water. They grew tall and large, and very daring, and strong. They attacked the Vaisali Kingdom. King's wife offers them milk from her breasts. The thousand little boys were the thousand Buddhas of this Bhadra-kalpa. Buddha says he was one of these thousand in former life. What does it mean?

We compare this incidence with Jat tradition of offering milk to bridegroom by mother from her breast at the time of marriage. We find some Jat connection?

Now let us read what K.P. Jayaswal writes - that A great famine and invasion made the Eastern Provinces distracted, terrorised and demoralised. In that country, undoubtedly, (then) there will be a king a great king of Mathura Jata (जाट) (Jat = जाट) family, born of a Vaisali (वैशाली) lady (T.), originally Vaisya . He became the king of the Magadhas (758-60). It is to be marked that although the king is not named, he is described as the son of the Vaisali Lady in the Tibetan text. He is said to have been a Mathura-Jata (जाट) (Sanskrit- Jata-vamsa जाट-वंस) . Jata-vam'sa, that is, Jata Dynasty stands for Jarta, that is, Jat. That the Guptas were Jat, we already have good reasons to hold (JBORS, XIX. p. 115). His Vaisali mother is the Lichchhavi lady. Evidently the ancestors of Samudra Gupta, according to this datum, once belonged to Mathura. [Ref - An Imperial History Of India: pp 51-52]

Vaisya should not be confused with Baniyas. In fact Fahian has used at many places term like Heads of the Vaisyas (A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms/Chapter 27) or Chiefs of the Vaisyas which should be interpreted as Chiefs if Vishayas. Vishaya (विषय) is term used for district or Paragana.

[lrburdak]

Fahian's Visit to Patna
A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms - by Fa-hsien: James Legge, 1886

Chapter 27: Pataliputtra or Patna, in Magadha. King Asoka’s Spirit-Built Palace and Halls. The Buddhist Brahman, Radha-Sami. Dispensaries and Hospitals

Having crossed the river, and descended south for a yojana, (the travellers) came to the town of Pataliputtra,¹ in the kingdom of Magadha, the city where king Asoka² ruled. The royal palace and halls in the midst of the city, which exist now as of old, were all made by spirits which he employed, and which piled up the stones, reared the walls and gates, and executed the elegant carving and inlaid sculpture-work — in a way which no human hands of this world could accomplish.


King Asoka had a younger brother who had attained to be an Arhat, and resided on Gridhra-kuta³ hill, finding his delight in solitude and quiet. The king, who sincerely reverenced him, wished and begged him (to come and live) in his family, where he could supply all his wants. The other, however, through his delight in the stillness of the mountain, was unwilling to accept the invitation, on which the king said to him, “Only accept my invitation, and I will make a hill for you inside the city.” Accordingly, he provided the materials of a feast, called to him the spirits, and announced to them, “To-morrow you will all receive my invitation; but as there are no mats for you to sit on, let each one bring (his own seat).” Next day the spirits came, each one bringing with him a great rock, (like) a wall, four or five paces square, (for a seat). When their sitting was over, the king made them form a hill with the large stones piled on one another, and also at the foot of the hill, with five large square stones, to make an apartment, which might be more than thirty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and more than ten cubits high.
In this city there had resided a great Brahman,⁴ named Radha-sami,⁵ a professor of the mahayana, of clear discernment and much wisdom, who understood everything, living by himself in spotless purity. The king of the country honoured and reverenced him, and served him as his teacher. If he went to inquire for and greet him, the king did not presume to sit down alongside of him; and if, in his love and reverence, he took hold of his hand, as soon as he let it go, the Brahman made haste to pour water on it and wash it. He might be more than fifty years old, and all the kingdom looked up to him. By means of this one man, the Law of Buddha was widely made known, and the followers of other doctrines did not find it in their power to persecute the body of monks in any way.
By the side of the tope of Asoka, there has been made a mahayana monastery, very grand and beautiful; there is also a hinayana one; the two together containing six or seven hundred monks. The rules of demeanour and the scholastic arrangements⁶ in them are worthy of observation.
Shamans of the highest virtue from all quarters, and students, inquirers wishing to find out truth and the grounds of it, all resort to these monasteries. There also resides in this monastery a Brahman teacher, whose name also is Manjusri,⁷ whom the Shamans of greatest virtue in the kingdom, and the mahayana Bhikshus honour and look up to.
The cities and towns of this country are the greatest of all in the Middle Kingdom. The inhabitants are rich and prosperous, and vie with one another in the practice of benevolence and righteousness. Every year on the eighth day of the second month they celebrate a procession of images. They make a four-wheeled car, and on it erect a structure of four storeys by means of bamboos tied together. This is supported by a king-post, with poles and lances slanting from it, and is rather more than twenty cubits high, having the shape of a tope. White and silk-like cloth of hair⁸ is wrapped all round it, which is then painted in various colours. They make figures of devas, with gold, silver, and lapis lazuli grandly blended and having silken streamers and canopies hung out over them. On the four sides are niches, with a Buddha seated in each, and a Bodhisattva standing in attendance on him. There may be twenty cars, all grand and imposing, but each one different from the others. On the day mentioned, the monks and laity within the borders all come together; they have singers and skilful musicians; they pay their devotion with flowers and incense. The Brahmans come and invite the Buddhas to enter the city. These do so in order, and remain two nights in it. All through the night they keep lamps burning, have skilful music, and present offerings. This is the practice in all the other kingdoms as well. The Heads of the Vaisya families in them establish in the cities houses for dispensing charity and medicines. All the poor and destitute in the country, orphans, widowers, and childless men, maimed people and cripples, and all who are diseased, go to those houses, and are provided with every kind of help, and doctors examine their diseases. They get the food and medicines which their cases require, and are made to feel at ease; and when they are better, they go away of themselves.
When king Asoka destroyed the seven topes, (intending) to make eighty-four thousand,⁹ the first which he made was the great tope, more than three le to the south of this city. In front of this there is a footprint of Buddha, where a vihara has been built. The door of it faces the north, and on the south of it there is a stone pillar, fourteen or fifteen cubits in circumference, and more than thirty cubits high, on which there is an inscription, saying, “Asoka gave the jambudvipa to the general body of all the monks, and then redeemed it from them with money. This he did three times.”¹⁰ North from the tope 300 or 400 paces, king Asoka built the city of Ne-le.¹¹ In it there is a stone pillar, which also is more than thirty feet high, with a lion on the top of it. On the pillar there is an inscription recording the things which led to the building of Ne-le, with the number of the year, the day, and the month.

[lrburdak]

Fahian's Visit to Patna

A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms - by Fa-hsien: James Legge, 1886

Chapter 27: Footnotes

1 The modern Patna, lat. 25d 28s N., lon. 85d 15s E. The Sanskrit name means “The city of flowers.” It is the Indian Florence.

2 See chap. x, note 3. Asoka transferred his court from Rajagriha to Pataliputtra, and there, in the eighteenth year of his reign, he convoked the third Great Synod — according, at least, to southern Buddhism. It must have been held a few years before B.C. 250; Eitel says in 246.

3 “The Vulture-hill;” so called because Mara, according to Buddhist tradition, once assumed the form of a vulture on it to interrupt the meditation of Ananda; or, more probably, because it was a resort of vultures. It was near Rajagriha, the earlier capital of Asoka, so that Fa-hien connects a legend of it with his account of Patna. It abounded in caverns, and was famous as a resort of ascetics.

4 A Brahman by cast, but a Buddhist in faith.

5 So, by the help of Julien’s “Methode,” I transliterate the Chinese characters {.} {.} {.} {.}. Beal gives Radhasvami, his Chinese text having a {.} between {.} and {.}. I suppose the name was Radhasvami or Radhasami.

6 {.} {.}, the names of two kinds of schools, often occurring in the Li Ki and Mencius. Why should there not have been schools in those monasteries in India as there were in China? Fa-hien himself grew up with other boys in a monastery, and no doubt had to “go to school.” And the next sentence shows us there might be schools for more advanced students as well as for the Sramaneras.

7 See chap. xvi, note 22. It is perhaps with reference to the famous Bodhisattva that the Brahman here is said to be “also” named Manjusri.

8? Cashmere cloth.

9 See chap. xxiii, note 3.

10 We wish that we had more particulars of this great transaction, and that we knew what value in money Asoka set on the whole world. It is to be observed that he gave it to the monks, and did not receive it from them. Their right was from him, and he bought it back. He was the only “Power” that was.

11 We know nothing more of Ne-le. It could only have been a small place; an outpost for the defence of Pataliputtra.

[drssrana2003]

Thanks.

Khatri Jat gotra has nothing to do with my query Friend.

Nonetheless if your hypothesis is accepted, we will have to tell Khatris that they are Jats who have forgotten their past history !

But where is that lost history which could be narrated to them to convince them that you are Jats .

But where is that lost history which could be narrated to them to convince them that you are Jats .[/QUOTE]

Clan name like uppal etc can not be changed as it represents the family memory/connection. Caste.... they changed. Let us ask why. Such are cases of shifting caste label. Have we not the case of Bishnois? Were they Jats some time ago?This process happened in the past also. Many who were under the label 'Jat' once abandoned it. They knew, why?

[prashantacmet]

But where is that lost history which could be narrated to them to convince them that you are Jats
Clan name like uppal etc can not be changed as it represents the family memory/connection. Caste.... they changed. Let us ask why. Such are cases of shifting caste label. Have we not the case of Bishnois? Were they Jats some time ago?This process happened in the past also. Many who were under the label 'Jat' once abandoned it. They knew, why?

rana ji, it might be the case for few people. For example, as today, mazhabis and SC are using jatt sirname...but are they jatts?....no..they stole it......so Please allow me to differ with your imagination.

So , simply you want to say that when Arabs came...whole India was jats, because arabs named them.........then gradually, all of the other castes came out from Jats.............??

it seems funny to me........my neighbor calls me "pappu"..I abandon my name as Prashant and me along with my whole family are known as "pappu"....and later on my family members abandon the name "pappu" and get their own name..I wonder if now any original "pappu" is left or not............

so it seems that as per your convention....today jats are just "tag".....neither a distinct race...nor a caste


anyway, so if you propose a theory..you will have to go back and forth......can you please post a brief account of your theory if you have it.

[lrburdak]

I have wikified two very important books on Chinese Pilgrims who travelled in India and provided us history of that period in India:

Book-1 http://www.jatland.com/home/A_Record...istic_Kingdoms

A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms: : James Legge, 1886

---

Being an Account by the Chinese Monk Fa-Hien of his Travels in India and Ceylon (A.D.399-414) in Search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline Translated and annotated with a Corean recension of the Chinese text by James Legge

Book-2 http://www.jatland.com/home/The_Anci...raphy_of_India

The Ancient Geography of India: I. The Buddhist Period, Including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang Sir Alexander Cunningham Trübner and Company, 1871 - India

[DrRajpalSingh]

rana ji, it might be the case for few people. For example, as today, mazhabis and SC are using jatt sirname...but are they jatts?....no..they stole it......so Please allow me to differ with your imagination.

So , simply you want to say that when Arabs came...whole India was jats, because arabs named them.........then gradually, all of the other castes came out from Jats.............??

it seems funny to me........my neighbor calls me "pappu"..I abandon my name as Prashant and me along with my whole family are known as "pappu"....and later on my family members abandon the name "pappu" and get their own name..I wonder if now any original "pappu" is left or not............

so it seems that as per your convention....today jats are just "tag".....neither a distinct race...nor a caste


anyway, so if you propose a theory..you will have to go back and forth......can you please post a brief account of your theory if you have it.

Well worded polite but straight question - Hope will receive due attention.