EARLY CIVILISATIONS OF THE NORTHWESToriginated in this period of tribal warfare and early settlement. It depicts
the struggle of the fighting cousins, the Pandavas and the Kauravas, for the
control of the western Ganga-Yamuna Doab in the Late Vedic age. The
Kauravas had their capital at Hastinapura on the Ganga about 57 miles to
the north of Delhi and the Pandavas had theirs at Indraprastha on the
Yamuna where New Delhi is now located. The Mahabharata reports that
the 100 Kauravas adopted a stratagem in order to deprive the Pandavas of
Indraprastha. They invited them to a game of dice at which the Pandavas
lost everything and were exiled to the forest for twelve years and had to
spend another year in disguise. When they returned and peace could not be
restored, they fought a mighty battle against the Kauravas which lasted for
eighteen days. With the support of Krishna, the Pandavas won the battle.
Historians doubted for a long time that the events referred to in this epic
had any historical relevance because the text was composed several
centuries later. But recent archaeological research has shown that the
important places mentioned in the epic were all characterised by significant
finds of Painted Grey Ware. This type of ceramic was produced in the
period from about 800 to 400 BC, and in some places (e.g. Atranjikhera,
District Etah, to the east of Agra) it could even be dated back to 1000 BC.
Although this Painted Grey Ware was probably produced by indigenous
potters it is now widely accepted as an indicator of Late Vedic settlement
because it was frequently found by archaeologists at the places mentioned
in contemporary texts.
The debate about Painted Grey Ware is still going on, but as far as the
historicity of the Mahabharata war is concerned, the debate has arrived at
some important conclusions. Parts of this epic reflect the poetic
imagination of a later age but the basic facts can no longer be doubted.
Archaeologists found at several places among the layers of Painted Grey
Ware the kind of dice which are described in the epic. The victory of the
Pandavas in their battle against the Kauravas may reflect the efficacy of an
alliance with indigenous people. Two crucial events referred to in the epic
point to this fact. The five Pandava brothers jointly married Draupadi, the
daughter of the king of the Panchalas whose realm was east of theirs, and
they were supported by Krishna of Mathura whose realm was south of
Indraprastha. Polyandry was unknown among the Vedic Aryans, thus the
Pandavas’ marriage to Draupadi seems to point to the adoption of an
indigenous custom, and the dark-skinned Krishna, hero or god of the
indigenous people of that area, certainly did not belong to the Aryan
immigrants. Whereas the Kauravas were allied with the Vedic tribes to the
north of their realm, the Pandavas were obviously in league with the
indigenous people who still held sway to the east and to the south of the
area of Aryan settlement. The victory of the Pandavas thus meant the
emergence of a new synthesis based on marital and political alliances with
the indigenous people.