Rigvedic tribes
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The Indo-Aryan tribes mentioned in the Rigveda are described as semi-nomadic pastoralists, subdivided into villages (vish) and headed by a tribal chief (raja) and administered by a priestly caste. They formed a warrior society, engaging in endemic warfare and cattle raids among themselves and against the Dasa.
The size of a typical tribe was probably of the order of a few thousand people. The account of the Dasharajna battle (Battle of the Ten Kings) in Mandala 7 mentions 6,666 casualties in a devastating defeat of a confederation of ten tribes, suggesting that a single tribe could muster at maybe some 700-2,000 warriors on average, which would indicate an average size of maybe 3,000-6,000 of a whole tribe. While the number of 6,666 cannot of course be taken literally, and is as likely as not a gross exaggeration, this order of magnitude is consistent with the typical size of tribes of Eurasian nomads.
List of tribes: (incomplete, please expand)
- Alina (RV 7.18.7) They were probably one of the tribes defeated by Sudas at the Dasarajna[1], and it was suggested that they lived to the north-east of Nurestan, because the land was mentioned by the Chinese pilgrim Hiouen Thsang.[2]
- Anu
- Bhāratas
- Bhrigus
- Matsya
- Parsu According to some scholars, the Parsus are connected with the Persians.[3] This view is disputed.[4]
- Puru
- Tritsu
- Dasa, Dasyu (Dahae?, Dahyu?)
- Druhyus, Ghandari
- Panis (Parni?)
[edit] Notes
[edit] See also
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