The Vedas

by Roshen Dalal

  Karapans are not referred to in the Rig Veda but it is thought that the word may be related to the Sanskrit kalpa (ritual). Kavi is a term used in the Rig but for certain individuals, not for clans. Usig, similar to usikh, occurs in this Veda, both in the singular and the plural, and seems to refer to priests. Some have interpreted them as mythical priests but this is not definite. According to the Gathas, the usig existed at the time of Zarathushtra.

  There is one possible mention of a place named Pereta Zemo (Y. 51.12), which has been translated as ‘Bridge of Winter’ or ‘Earth Bridge’. Not all agree but some scholars feel that this is the name of a place. Zemo is a common prefix or suffix of place names in Georgia, meaning ‘upper’ though the Georgian language is not Indo-European. Pereta is also a place name in Georgia. However, the antiquity of the name in Georgia is uncertain. The reference in the Gathas is to a place where Zarathushtra was refused hospitality along with ‘his two shivering horses’. Alternatively vazd has been translated as two draught animals, and Zarathushtra is thought to have reached this place on a wheeled vehicle.

  Thus, we have hardly any information on where Zarathustra lived. In all later sources, Kavi Vishtaspa, Zarathushtra’s patron, is located in Bactria (northern Afghanistan). That was not Zarathushtra’s homeland, but it may have been adjacent to it. His homeland has been variously thought to be in eastern Iran, Chorasmia (Uzbekistan), or some part of Central Asia bordering Iran. The most likely region is actually some part of Iran, from where Zarathushtra could have moved to Bactria. Ragha or Ray in northern Iran or Azerbaijan, is the traditional location of Zarathushtra’s birthplace and homeland. This would be located in north-west Iran. Another place with a similar name is in eastern Iran. The Bactria–Margiana region and the South Russian steppes are among other suggestions. Richard Frye, the American scholar of Iranian and Central Asian studies, suggested Bactria or Chorasmia. The Russian scholar Igor N. Khlopin feels it could be the Tedzen delta in Turkmenistan. We will look at some of these suggestions later.

  YOUNGER AVESTAN

  Younger Avestan sources, which have several references to places and people, are also used to reconstruct Zarathushtra’s homeland. But it needs to be kept in mind that these are later sources, though they may contain some earlier material.

  Sometimes, Airyanem Vaejah mentioned in Younger Avestan sources, including the Vendidad and a yasht, is considered the homeland. It is said to be the best country in the world with a winter of ten months and a summer of two. The Vanghui Daitya, a river flowing through it, has been identified with the Amu Darya (Oxus) or Helmand. However, scholars have identified the region with central Afghanistan, Chorasmia, or even Siberia. It may be located north of Sogdiana, though Gnoli sees Airyanem Vaejah as a mythical land.

  Younger Avestan traditions refer to Bactria, Media, and Azerbaijan, particularly the Median city of Raha (Ray, south of Tehran), as the home of Zarathushtra. Gnoli, based on Younger Avestan texts, looks at Sistan and Drangiana as the homeland.

  Several yashts contain geographical material but the identity of the places/regions is often uncertain. The time period in which they can be placed is not clear either.

  In the Mihr Yasht, the deity Mithra reaches Mt Hara. From there, he looks at the land of the Aryas (Airyo sayana), ‘where the valiant chiefs draw up their many troops in array, where the high mountains, rich in pastures and waters, yield plenty to the cattle, where the deep lakes with salt waters stand, where wide flowing rivers swell and hurry towards Iskata and Paruta, Mouru (Margiana) and Harayu (Areia or Herat), Gava, Sughda (Sogdiana), and Havirizem (Khwarizm, Chorasmia)’. Ghur (Afghanistan) has been suggested as the location of Paruta. It has been suggested that Iskata may be Alexandria eschate (meaning the farthest Alexandria) set up by Alexander on the Jaxartes river (Syr Darya), but this is far too late to have any relevance for Zarathushtra’s homeland.

  The Farvardin Yasht, which glorifies the fravashis (divine souls) of people of the past, has references to places and people but these are difficult to identify. Among the places mentioned are Muza, Raozdya, Tanya, Anhvi, and Apaxsira. Muza is similar to the Sanskrit Mujavant, which several scholars locate in the area between the Hindu Kush and the Pamir. Fravashis belonging to various regions too are mentioned. The regions include Airia (Arya), Tuiria (Turanians), Sairima, Sainu, and Daha (Dahae).

  The Zamyad Yasht refers to a number of mountains, both real and mythical. It also mentions rivers and lakes of the Helmand region. Among the rivers listed are Xastra, Hvaspa, Fradatha, Xaranahvaiti, Ustavaiti, Urvaba, Erezi, Zurenumaiti, and Haetumant. Based on later sources, Gnoli identifies six of these in Sistan. He also identifies some lakes, mountains, and places from other yashts in the same region.

  Others find possible references to Central Asia and the region of the Jaxartes river.

  The Vendidad contains a list of sixteen districts or regions; the original names have some explanations in the Pahlavi text and commentary and identifications are based on these. These regions were created by Ahura Mazda and threatened by Angra Mainyu (the evil spirit). For each of Ahura Mazda’s beautiful creations, Angra Mainyu produced a counter-creation, with negative elements. It should be noted again that this is a relatively late text.

  A brief idea of the sixteen lands and their identifications based on later commentaries is given here:

  The first of the sixteen districts, Airyana Vaejah, is sometimes thought to represent the ancient Iranian homeland, and has been discussed above.

  Gava has been explained as Sughdha, that is Sogdiana (Uzbekistan and Tajikistan).

  Mouru is the same as Margiana (Turkmenistan).

  Baxoi (Bakhdi) is the region of Bactria in Afghanistan and adjacent regions.

  Nisaya is explained as lying between Mouru and Bakhdi; it has been suggested that it was the region around Maymana, in north central Afghanistan.

  Haroiva (Haroyu) is Areia, Herat, in west Afghanistan; the Hari river (Harayu) flows here.

  Vaekerata is the region of Gandhara (north-west Pakistan and Afghanistan).

  Urva is probably the Ghazni region (Afghanistan).

  Khnenta is a region explained as Vehrkano sayana (where the Vehrkana live). It has been identified with a river in Gorgan, and Vehrkana could be a people living in the Gorgan region of north Iran or Hyrcania, which included but extended beyond Gorgan. The Vehrkana are mentioned in Old Persian as Varkana, and by Ctesias in early Greek sources as Barkanioi.

  Haraxaiti (Harahvaiti) is the region of Arachosia (Afghanistan around Kandahar and Zhob).

  Haetumant is the region of Helmand, the Achaemenian region of Drangiana (Zranka); Helmand is a province in south-west Afghanistan.

  Raya (Ragha) is often identified with Ray, the traditional birthplace of Zarathushtra in Iran. However, Raya here is thought to be north of Haraxaiti and Haetumant, and close to Cakhra, and hence may not be a reference to the traditional birthplace. According to I. Gershevitch, scholar of Iranian studies at Cambridge, this cannot be the Median Raga because of its position in the list. It has been identified with Raga in an inscription of Darius I, the Rhagai of the Greeks, the al-Rayy of the Arabs, and Raya. Raya has also been identified with a place in eastern Iran.

  Cakhra is Caex between Ghazni and Kabul, in the valley of the Logan river; alternatively, it has been identified with Mazandaran, a region in Iran.

  Varena, described as four-cornered, is identified with Buner, or the Greek Aornos (possibly Pir Sar, north of Attock in present Pakistan).

  Hapta Hindu is the same as Sapta Sindhava, the region of Punjab.

  Ranha is akin to Rasa in the Vedas, a tributary of the Indus, probably in Afghanistan. Here, Angra Mainyu’s counter-creation was winter, a work of the Daevas. This indicates its connection with north-west India–Pakistan. Others have located it in the Pamir, or identified it with the Syr Darya (Jaxartes) or even the Volga. In a yasht, the Ranha is the home of the mythical kara fish (Y. 16).

  There is no agreement among Iranian scholars on the nature of thes
e lands. The Swedish scholar H.S. Nyberg thought they represented the successive stages of the spread of Zarathushtra’s ideas. O.S. Wikander, another Swedish scholar, related them to the spread of the worship of the god Vayu or of Vayu/Anahita. To A. Christensen, Danish orientalist and scholar of Iranian, it recorded the expansion of the territory of Aryan tribes in Iran. The French scholar Marijan Mole believed it represented a geographical structure and related it to Dumezil’s tripartite ideology. The German historian and linguist Franz Altheim felt it was a projection into the future, when Zoroastrianism would spread to these lands. The German archaeologist, philologist, and historian E. Herzfeld saw the sixteen territories as a list of provinces in the Parthian kingdom.

  According to Gnoli, these sixteen regions may have been territories acquired some time after Zarathushtra and before the advent of the Achaemenian empire. Therefore, he feels, the date when these territories existed could be between the 9th and 7th centuries BCE. However, they could even refer to a later period. The Vendidad reflects a period when the religion had become ritualistic, very different from that of the Gathas. Some aspects of the texts may be mythical but others have historical significance. The geographical horizon of the Younger Avestan thus extends over a very wide area, covering parts of Central Asia, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and north-west India. But as references in these texts could be as late as the Parthian period, they do not have much relevance for Vedic times. It is well known that the Achaemenians and Parthians had vast empires covering these regions.

  However neither in this nor in the older Gathic material are there references to migration or movement from one region to another. The Younger Avestan material probably just indicates the regions where Zoroastrianism had spread, or the regions that were known, at a much later date.

  GATHIC OR OLD AVESTAN ECONOMY AND SOCIETY

  The information in the Gathas on polity, economy, and society is scanty. The kavis seem to have been rulers of clans. Based on the terms used by Zarathushtra to describe himself (see above), there were obviously priests or religious leaders in society. The community of animals and men, pashu vira, is mentioned. Vira could also imply a warrior. Other terms mentioned in the Gathas are vastrya, vastar, or vastrya fshuyant, which has been translated as ‘herdsman, pasturer’ or ‘herdsman-farmer’. Cows and cattle were vital. Pashu is often translated as ‘cattle’ though, literally, it could refer to any animal, or to herds and flocks in general. There is, in fact, another term used for cows—gaush. Gaush Urva and Gaush Tasha are both mentioned in the Gathas. Gaush Urva, the soul of the cow, represents the suffering earth, and appeals to Ahura Mazda to save her. Gaush Tasha is called her creator. In Y. 31.9, Ahura Mazda is said to be the creator of Tasha, and hence of cattle. Butter and milk, the products of cows, are also mentioned. There are references to camels and horses. Y. 44.18 has a somewhat puzzling passage; Zarathushtra asks: ‘How may I obtain, through Truth, that promised reward, namely ten mares, a stallion and a camel, so that perfection and Immortality may be mine?’ According to Humbach, a German scholar and translator of the Gathas, this is the fee for a sacrificial ritual but this seems unlikely. Another interpretation is that the mares represent the ten senses; the stallion, his mind; and the camel, his faith. Whatever the interpretation, horses and camels were obviously known.

  Chariots and horses are also referred to in religious imagery. Thus Y. 50.6–7 reads:

  May the creator, as charioteer, teach me how to follow the directives of the good mind. So I will yoke for you O Mazda, the swiftest of steeds, far-reaching in victorious prayer, strong through Truth and the Good Mind.

  Certain social groups are mentioned in the Gathas: xvaetu (family), verezena (community), airyaman (clan) (Y. 32.1, 33.3, 46.1, 49.7). Family and clan probably had a close relationship. In Y. 46.1, Zarathushtra refers to his unhappiness at being excluded from both.

  A distinction is made regarding demana (dwelling), vis (settlement), shoithra (district), and dahyu (land). The last is thought to perhaps refer to a large area of land where related clans lived. Neither towns nor trade seem to be referred to though this does not mean they did not exist. There were obviously some different occupations—priest, warrior, charioteer, herdsman, as well as clan leader. Metal is mentioned, and was probably copper. Hence there must have been craftsmen who smelted and made copper implements; others must have made chariots and various weapons or implements.

  Based on this limited information, scholars have different views on Gathic economy and society. Gathic society was initially seen as divided into two groups: priests, and the rest of the population, who were simple peasants. Each peasant could also act as a warrior. Later interpretations see them primarily as pastoralists, with a focus on cattle, and some elements of farming. Younger Avestan texts refer to three social divisions: priests, warriors, and herdsmen-farmers (athravan, rathaeshtar, vastryo fshuyant); and these have sometimes been projected back to the Gathic period, though such a projection may not be correct. In fact, comparing these to the brahmana– kshatriya–vaishya caste divisions of Later Vedic society, Dumezil dated these classes to the period of Proto-Indo-Iranian, which is not tenable, as these divisions appear in the late Rig Vedic period.

  There was certainly a class of priests, though this may not have been hereditary at this time. Various words are used for priests. The term karapan seems to refer to priests who performed rituals, and are mentioned negatively by Zarathushtra. The term zaotar corresponds with the Sanskrit hotr, though the two may not have had the same functions. Manthran is another term related to the Sanskrit mantra. Usig occurs once.

  Usually, gifts of cows or livestock were payments made for any services. The existence of a code of laws (data) is indicated and there are references to judgement. There are also references to killing, stealing, and theft.

  YOUNGER AVESTAN ECONOMY AND SOCIETY

  Though the Younger Avestan has many archaic elements, it reflects a more complex economy and society. As it was composed over a long period, it does not present a picture of a single time period. The people are believed to have been more warrior-like. The term for warrior was rathaestar, literally ‘one standing in a chariot’. Bronze weapons and chariots were probably used.

  In the Vendidad, there are references to a plough with share and yoke, a mortar of stone, a hand mill for grinding grain, and a spade for digging and tilling. In the same section, there are references to gold and silver being used for buying and selling, as the price of a stallion in silver, and of a camel in gold, are mentioned. In Vendidad 14.9, war implements are referred to—spear, knife, sword, bow, quiver with shoulder-belt and thirty bronze-headed arrows, sling with armstring and thirty sling stones, hauberk (shirt of chain mail), tunic, helmet, girdle, and a pair of greaves.

  The Mihr Yasht indicates that not only were chariots used but horses were ridden too. A Yasna passage mentions the huiti (craftsmen or artisans); specialized crafts had probably developed, though town life is not described. The use of metals was increasing, and a metal (ayah) pestle and mortar are mentioned (Y. 22.2) but payments were still made at times with valuable animals, stallion, camel, bull, cow, or lamb. In the late Vendidad, a donkey (kathwa) is among items given as payment.

  To summarize, despite the limited evidence available, it seems most likely that Zarathushtra lived somewhere in Iran, Afghanistan, or immediately north of these, and composed the Gathas in that region.

  Chapter 5

  The Indo-Iranian Homeland

  The Indo-Iranian homeland may have been different from the homeland of Zarathushtra and the Avestan people. Archaeology, inscriptions, and texts are used to try and arrive at a date for Indo-Iranian, its original homeland, its separation, and the route by which it reached Iran and India. The conclusions depend on which framework is followed.

  The Avestan homeland, as seen in Chapter 4, could be somewhere in Iran or Afghanistan, or in the regions of Central Asia, immediately to the north. The Vedic homeland, based on references in the Rig Veda, was basically t
he region of Punjab and Haryana in Pakistan/India, extending into Afghanistan. The two regions were contiguous but not identical.

  Did the two groups once speak the same language, and did they migrate to these regions from a common homeland? As we saw earlier, this is a major theory regarding their origin. Yet, the very uncertainties that arise when searching for the Indo-European homeland can apply to the Indo-Iranian homeland as well.

  One difference is that there are more similarities between Avestan texts and the Vedas, than with any other Indo-European group. The first similarity is in language. Gathic Avestan and Rig Vedic Sanskrit are, as pointed out earlier, very similar. Younger Avestan also has similarities with the language of the Vedas.

  Some language similarities are tabulated below:

  Table 5.1

  Vedic Avestan English

  Ashva aspa horse

  Ushtra ushtra camel

  Asura ahura divine being

  Deva daeva divine being/demon

  Hotr zaotar priest

  kshatra khshathra strength