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Kuru-PancalaAuthor(s): F. E. PargiterReviewed work(s):Source: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, No. 1 (Jan., 1920),pp. 99-102Published by: Cambridge University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25209578 .

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KIJIUT-l'ANCALA O??

MS. Brit. Mus. 724, xvii, No. 17, emanates from him ; likewise

apoem

in honour ofthe

famous Karaitephilosopher

Aaron

b. Ulijah (1300-GO), his contemporary, beginning pns* JV22

nbnpn jron,with the accr. bxinw m p TO?' (printed in

Aaron's Keter Torah, Eupatoria, 18GG, behind the editor's

Introduction).

Accordingly Moses b. Samuel was a Karaite, having been

at the same time the only representative of this sect in

Palestine at that time. The Karaites flourished in the Holy

Land about 940-1060, but afterwards no name of importance

is known from amongst them. The Karaite traveller Samuel

b. David found in Jerusalem in IG12 altogether twenty

seven of his fellow-sectaries (see Gurlaud, bxiET TT3J, i, 12) ;

likewise small was their number also later in the eighteenth

century (seeI.e., 3G, 48 ;

Jerusalem,

ed. Luncz, vi, 210 ;

Hastings, Emy. of Rel. and Ethics, vii, 607"). The example of

Moses shows now that the spiritual life of the Karaites in

Palestine was not entirely extinct even after their period of

flourishing. Yet it is possible that Moses had raised himself

to an intellectual height only through his stay in Damascus,

where in the Middle Ages there existed a flourishing Karaite

community. At any rate Mann's publication is to be

appreciated also in this direction, and it would be desirable

that he should pay attention to the other poems of Moses

b. Samuel still preserved.Samuel Poznanski.

Warsaw.

KU It?-TANCA LA

Much has been written about the Kuru-Pa?c?ilas and

theories have been put forward about them, but it may be

well to show what historical tradition discloses about them.

As pointed out iu former papers,2 in the Pfiru or Paurava

1Similar acrostics aro to ho found also in somo of fin- pnrm? pub

lished by Mann (Nos. II and IV).

* JKAS. 1010. p. 21 ; HJU, pp. 2S:j 4, 288-9.

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loo KCIUI-PANCALA

race arose the famous king Bharata, and his descendants

were the Bharatas. One of them,Ajamidha, king

of

Mastin?pura, divided his territories among his three sons and

so formed the three kingdoms of Hastin?pura, N. Paiicfila,

and S. Paiicfila. Paiicfila wasoriginally

a nickname of certain

princes of N. Paiicfila and in time superseded Krivi, the old

name of that country. The names of the royal families were

commonly extended to designate their peoples and countries.1

Afterwards in the HastiiiFipura dynasty arose king Kuril,2

and his descendants were the Kurus:l or Kauravas. The

Bharatas thus comprised the three families of the Kurus,

N. Cancillas and S. Paiiefilas ; the N. Paiicfdas producedthe

two sub-families of the Sn?jayns and Sotnakas, and the Kurus

afterwards developed the sub-family of the P?ndavas.

In the Pan (lavas' time Drona conquered Pancfila, kept

N. Paiicfila for himself, and transferred its king Drupada and

his entourage to S. Pancfila. With Drupadawent the

Snijayas and Somalias. Paiicfila then comprised all the

country from Ahicchattra to Kfimpilyaand to the 11.Chambal,

N. Pancfila being the portion north of the Gangesand

S. Paiicfila that south of the river.4

When the Pfindavas were victorious in thegreat

Bharata

battle, Yudhisthira gained the Kuru throne, and he and his

successors became kings of the Kurus.5 So far the Kurus,

the N. Paiicfdas and S. Paiiefilas were distinct.

His sixth successor is said to have abandoned Ilastinfipura,

because it was carried away by the (.langes,and he moved to

Kausfimbi, which he made his capital.15 The reason is absurd,

' M indi as we speak of Rhodesia and the Rhodesiaos.2

His name has nothing to do with Kriri, which existed long

before him.a

These Knnis have nothing li> ?lowith the Hitara Km ns. It was not

uncommon for persons to have the same names as countries and peoples,

cf. e.g. Ivirata, I'astyavant, and I'laksa in the Vedic Index, and also

Aja. Valsa, etc.*

M Rb. i. /.W, 5?07 I?.

MHh. \iv,A\'\ 2<>7i>; xv. .?\ 1012 : xvii, /, S : vio.

c Vjivu W. 271. Malsya Sal. TS ??. My Dynast us of the Kali Age.

pp. :>. ?r?.

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KUItir-PANCALA KM

because, if that were the whole truth, he could have chosen

some other town near by as his capital, and there was no

necessity to move more than 300 miles south across S. PalicCiIa

to Kaus?mb?. Manifestly he abandoned all the Kuru territory

in the northern part of the Ganges-Jumna doab, and there

can be no doubt that that longmove was not voluntary but

was the result of severe pressure.

That there was such pressure is suggested by the early

chapters of the Mah?ibh?irata, which, though in ridiculously

fabulous form, brahmanic on its very face, yet seem to be

based on actual occurrences. The purport is this there was

aNaga kingdom with Taksasilit as its capital, it came into

direct conflict with Ilastinfipura in the reign of Yudhislhiras

successor Pariksit II, he was killed, and his son, Janarne

jayaIII, defeated the

Nagas

but made

peace.'

This

suggeststhat the intervening Panjab kingdoms, the Sivis, Madras,

Kaikeyas, Sauviras, etc., which playso

prominenta

part in

the epic, had fallen, and it is not improbable after the great

slaughter of princes and ksatriyas in the Bhftrata battle.

If so, Ilastinfipurawas face to face with danger from the

north-west.

Apart from this explanation, however, the fact remains ofthe abandonment of Ilastinfipura and the Kuru territory and

the retreat to Kaus?mbi. That mixed up the Kurus with the

S. Pancfilas, and the newkingdom became that of Kurus

and Pahc?las, the united Kuru-Pa?cfila nation.2 It is that

nation which is mentioned in the Brahman as and among

whom the great Br?hmanas werecomposed."' That event

took place rather inore than a century after the great battle.

It shows when and where those works were formed and

fixes an upper limit for the period of their composition. The

political conditions described above reveal why those books

have so little to say about the Panjab nations that are ao

1MBh. i, J,r>, 1780 to ',',, 1807 ; 50, 2007 to OS, 2175.

*N. Pnneiila

apparentlycontinued to exist

separately.3Vedie India i, p. 105.

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102 ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY

prominent in the Mahfibh?rata, and the books corroborate the

conditions.This is the simple explanation of the united Kuru-Pa?cfdas.

It elucidates the various points noticed under the words

Kuru, Paiicfila, etc., in the Vedic Index. Historical tradition

thus makes clear what brahmanical books leave in uncertainty.

P. E. Pargiter.

l?OYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY

It is hoped to reopen the regular work of the Royal Asiatic

Society, which has been interrupted by the move, bya

receptionto be held on March 30 in the new

premisesof the

Society, 74 Grosvenor Street, W. 1. The Libraries will be

open for students ami for the loan of books immediately after

Easter. The new house is a handsome and commodious

building, with a comfortable lounge and Council room, a

large lecture room, and library in which the books will be

arrauged according to the countries with which they deal.

The work of re-cataloguing is in progress, and the Assistant

Librarian will be constantly in attendance to get the books

required by members. There is a silence room tor students

wishing to copy or collate books and manuscripts. It is hoped

that the advantages offered by the newpremises will not only

make 74 Grosvenor Street a morefrequent place of resort by

ourpresent members, but will lead to a

large increase of

membership,so that the Society, now

approachingits

hundredth anniversary, may be looked upon as the natural

centre of Oriental studies and Oriental interests in London.