There are diversified views on the origin and arrival of Aryans in India. According to Max Müller, one branch settled in Europe, the second branch in Iran and the third branch settled in India after coming out of the Central Asia region located between India and Iran. The branch that came to India crossed the Hindukush mountain through Afghanistan and reached the Saptasindhu region and it was here that these people had settled.
The administrative unit of the Aryans was divided into five parts in ascending order – Kul, Gram, Vish, Jana, Rashtra.
The head of the village was called Gramini and the head of Vish was called Vishapati. The ruler of Jana was called Rajan.
The Aryans first settled in Punjab and Afghanistan. Max Muller has considered Central Asia to be the original abode of the Aryans.
The civilization created by the Aryans was called Vedic civilization and was a rural civilization. The Sanskrit was language of the Aryans.
More About the Aryans and their Struggle
The Indo-Aryan speaking people came from the north-western mountains and settled in the north-west of Punjab and later in the Gangetic plains where they came to be known as Aryans or Indo-Aryans. These people spoke Indo-Iranian, Indo-European or Sanskrit languages. There is no correct information about the origin of Aryans, different scholars have different views on it. It is said that the Aryans lived east of the Alps (Eurasia), Central Asia, the Arctic region, Germany and southern Russia.
In fact, Aryans were called those people who spoke ancient Indo-European language and who thought of settling in the ancient Iran and North Indian continents. The Aryans settled in India during the pre-Vedic period. The place where the Aryans settled was called the Sapt Sindhu or the land of seven rivers Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, Sutlej, Sindhu and Saraswati.
Rivers of Sapta Saindhav Region
The term Sapta Sindhu is mentioned in the Hindu scriptures (Rig Veda). It is the common name provided to the group of seven rivers which flowed through North West of India.
Those seven rivers were:
Saraswati
Sindhu (Indus)
Asikni (Chenab)
Vipassa (Beas)
Satudru (Sutlej)
Parushni (Ravi)
Vitasta (Jhelum)
Struggle of Aryans
The first Aryan squad invaded India near about 1500 BC.
They had to struggle with the original inhabitants of India like Das and Dasyu.
Although Das were never incited by the Aryans for an attack but the killing of Dasyu is repeatedly mentioned in the Rig Veda.
The Aryans were also able to conquer the natives because they had better weapons, armor and chariots with horses.
The Aryans were engaged in two kinds of struggles - one with indigenous people and other in themselves.
Aryans were splitted into five tribal castes called Panchajans and also received the help of non-Aryans.
The rulers of the Aryan gotra were Bharat and Tritsu, who were helped by the Rishi Vasistha.
The country was named Bharatvarsha after King Bharat.
Dasarajan War
India was ruled by the king of Bharat Gotra and he also had to face opposition from ten kings - Five Aryans and Five Non-Aryans. The war between them was called the War of the Ten Kings or the Dasarajan War. This battle was fought on Parushani or Ravi river. The Dasarajan war is mentioned in the 7th mandala of the Rigveda.
In this war, on one side there was the Puru clan and their friendly community. The advisor or general of this community (ten kings) was Rishi Vishwamitra.
On the other side, there was a community called Bharata which was led by the King Sudas of the Tristu clan. The advisor or general of Sudas was Rishi Vashistha.
In this war the Bharat clan of Sudas was victorious and gained authority over the Aryans of North Indian subcontinent. Later on, the name of the whole country became 'Bharat' after the name of Bharat clan.
Later, Bharat clan tied a relationship with Puru clan which led to the formation of new clan named Kuru. In the later Vedic period, Kuru and Panchalas played a crucial role in the politics within the Upper Gangetic Plateau region where they ruled together.
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