The
Battle of the Ten Kings (
) is a battle alluded to in
Mandala 7 of the
Rigveda (hymns 18, 33 and 83.4-8). It is a battle between
Aryans (an "internecine war", as the
1911 Britannica puts it, as opposed to the more frequent accounts of Aryans fighting
Dasyus). It took place as
Puru tribes, allied with other tribes of the
Punjab and goaded by the royal sage
Vishvamitra, oppose the
Trtsu (
Bharata) king
Sudas in battle, but are defeated as was celebrated in a provocative hymn of Sudas' poet and priest
Vasishtha (RV 7.18).
K. F. Geldner in his 1951 translation of the Rigveda considers the hymns as "obviously based on an historical event", even though all details save for what is preserved in the hymns have been lost. Further details have been provided in an incisive discussion of this hymn by H.-P. Schmidt
The tribes
- Alinas: One of the tribes defeated by Sudas at the Dasarajna, and it was suggested that they lived to the north-east of Nuristan, because the land was mentioned by the Chinese pilgrim Hiouen Thsang. (Macdonell and Keith, Vedic Index, 1912, I, 39)
- Anu: Some place them in the (Ravi) area
- Bhrigus: Probably the priestly family descended from the ancient Kavi Bhrigu. Later, they are related to the composition of parts of the Atharva Veda () .
- Bhalanas: Fought against Sudas in the Dasarajna battle. Some scholars have argued that the Bhalanas lived in the Bolan Pass area.
- Dasa, Dasyu: A term for all tribes that were in opposition to King Sudas, and to the Arya in general. The word is cognate to the Iranian ethnonym Dahae or Dahi (also known as Dahas Saka/Scythians).
- Matsya are only mentioned in the RV (7.18.6), but later in connection with the Śālva (Macdonell and Keith, Vedic Index, 1912, II 122).
- Parsu: The Parśu have been connected by some with the ancient Persians.
[A. A. Macdonell and A. B. Keith (1912). Vedic Index of Names and Subjects.] This is based on the evidence of an Assyrian inscription of 844 BC referring to the Persians as Paršu, and the Behistun Inscription of Darius I of Persia referring to Parsa (Pārsa) as the area of the Persians. More likely, they lived, like some other tribes in the Daśarājña hymn, in the (north)western border areas of the subcontinent.
- Purus: Descendants of Yayati, from the lunar dynasty .
- Panis: Also known as the Parni or Parnoi, a Saka tribe in northwestern Afghanistan related to the Scythians.
Background
Hymns 7.18 and 7.83 are dedicated to
Indra and Indra paired with
Varuna, respectively. They thank the deity for helping Sudas to defeat his enemies, while hymn 7.33 is addressed by Vasistha's descendants to Vasishtha, praising him for moving the gods to take Sudas' side by his prayers (Indra preferred Vasishtha's prayers over those of Pasadyumna, son of Vayata, 7.33.2). They describe him as a son of
Mitra and
Varuna (7.33.11).
The hymn stresses the importance of the priests (Vasistha is named along with Parashara and Satayatu) in winning Indra's favour; they had invoked Indra while they had moved away from "home" (
grhāt, 7.18.21)
The situation leading up to the battle is described in 7.18.6: The Turvasas and Yaksus (Yadu) , together with the
Matsya tribe (punned upon by the rishi by comparing them to hungry fish (
matsya) flocking together) appear and ally themselves with the
Bhrigus and the
Druhyus. Their confederation was further increased by the Pakthas, the Bhalanas, the Alinas, the
Shivas and the Visanins (7.18.7), while the Trtsus relied solely on the help of the "Arya's Comrade" (
āryasya sadhamāḥ), Indra.
The "ten kings" are mentioned in both 7.33 (verses 3 and 5) and 7.83 (verses 6, 7 and 8), but not in the most extensive account of 7.18 so that it is not made explicit how this number was broken down:
Sudas himself is not to be included in the number (the Trtsus are
surrounded by ten kings in 7.33.5), and if of the tribes mentioned in 7.18, the Turvasas, Yaksus (pun for Yadu), Matsyas, Bhrgus, Druhyus, Pakthas, Bhalanas, Alinas, Shivas and Visanins are counted, the full number is reached, leaving the
Anavas (7.18.14), the
Ajas and Sigrus (7.18.19) and the "21 men of both Vaikarna tribes" (7.18.11) without a king, and implying that Bheda (7.18.19, also mentioned 7.33.3 and 7.83.4, the main leader slain by Sudas), Shimyu (7.18.5), and Kavaṣa (7.18.12) are the names of individuals.
The battle
The battle itself took place on the banks of the
Parusni (Ravi).
The warriors of Sudas are described as white-robed (
shvityanca), wearing hair-knots on the right side of their heads (
daksinataskaparda), having flying banners (
krtádhvaj) (RV 7.83.2), while the ten kings do not worship (
áyajyavaḥ).
It appears (7.18.5) that Sudas managed to cross the Parusni safely, while his foes, trying to pursue, were scattered by a flood and either drowned or were slaughtered by Sudas' men:
7.18.9 As to their goal they sped to their destruction: they sought Parusni; e'en the swift returned not.
Indra abandoned, to Sudas the manly, the swiftly flying foes, unmanly babblers.
7.18.9 They went like kine unherded from the pasture, each clinging to a friend as chance directed.
They who drive spotted steeds, sent down by Prsni, gave ear, the Warriors and the harnessed horses.'' (trans. Griffith)
Kavaṣa and the Druhyu were "overwhelmed by Indra" while still in the water (7.18.10).
The slain warriors of the Anu and Druhyus are numbered 6,666 (7.18.14).
Aftermath
In the aftermath of the battle, the Bharatas under Sudas (7.33.6), received tribute from the Ajas, the Sigrus and the Yaksus (= Yadu, 7.18.20), and Indra destroyed the seven fortifications of the enemies, and gave the treasures of
Anu to Sudas (7.18.13). 7.18.17 stresses that this was a victory against all odds, compared to a ram defeating a lion.
