Governance and Public Administration in Mahabharata Kulinda /Kuninda Kingdoms of Uttarakhand
History of Kumaon, Garhwal (Uttarakhand) - Part 30
Historical Aspects of Ancient communities of Kumaon-Garhwal (Uttarakhand), Himalayas-27
Historical Aspects of Mahabharata Kulindas or Kunindas Janpad of Uttarakhand (1400-400 B.C.) part-8
(All the History write ups are dedicated to great Historians Hari Krishna Raturi, Badri Datt Pandey and Dr Shiv Prasad Dabral)
Hundred Kingdoms (Guilds) n Kulinda/Kuninda Region of Uttarakhand
The historians as Jayaswal (Hindu Raj tantra part-1), Dr Dabral, and Naval ET all had agreement that there were more than hundred kingdoms or Gansangha (republicans) of Kulindas of Mahabharata Age in Uttarakhand. Mahabharata states ‘Kulindshatsnklam‘(vanparva 140/24). The strong Kulindas used to administrate each Kulinda Gansangha and it seems each Gansangha administrator was called ‘Kulindaraj’ or ‘Kunindaraj’.
Administrative Unit of Kulinda Gansangha- The small unit was village. When there is more population the place was called ‘Nagar’. Many villages were called ‘Vishay’. Probably the ‘Vishay ‘was country or nation.
The capital of Vishay or nation was called ‘Pur’ or ‘Nagar’.
The smallest unit of village was family (kul).
Prosperity- According to Mahabharata, Kulinda or Kuninda Janpad was very prosperous region.
Education- the Brahmins and other upper class people were interested in educating their children.
Girl education- Girl education in Uttarakhand of Mahabharata Kulinda /Kuninda Age was common as said in Mahabharata about Shakuntala and daughter /daughter in law of Ekchakra Brahmin.
Rules Abiding People- Mahabharata states that people were rule abiding community. Even the Raksasas or giant as Bakasur was rule abiding giant.
Excellent Diplomacy with Neighboring Nations- Kulindas of Uttarakhand had excellent relationship with Pandavas at all time. That shows the nature of excellent diplomacy by Kulindas with neighboring nations.
Mahabharata describes in depth about Subahu the Kulinda king of Uttarakhand region.
Armed forces- Subahu divided his army into infantry, horse riders, and elephant riders. There is mention about armies of chariots.
Weapons- The major weapons were arrow and bows. Trident was also common weapon.
Stone weapons- The armed forces were expert in throwing various types of stone weapons on enemies.
Bravery- the soldiers of Subahu the Kulinda king were brave.
Army of Giants
Mahabharata describes in details about armies of giants of Uttarakhand in Kulinda regions.
The weapons were club, sword, draggers, hammers, stone weapons, different types of axes, dust, sands, water, fire etc.
Training for learning Rajdharma or Public administration
There is a story in Mahabharata that Bhima reached in one hill of Himalaya and met Hanumana. Hanumana was quite old and he preaches Bhima about general and finer parts of ruling and administration. This shows that in Mahabharata Kulinda age, there was a system for older and experiences personalities teaching and training to younger ones about administration.
Hanuman discusses about general administration; battle or war tactics as defense, offence, surprise and deceptive war tactics; role of spies; role of judiciary; benefits to subjects etc.
Copyright@ Bhishma Kukreti 5/05/2013
(The write up is aimed for general readers)
History of Garhwal – Kumaon (Uttarakhand) to be continued… Part -31
Ancient communities of Kumaon-Garhwal (Uttarakhand), Himalayas- to be continued…28
Historical Aspects of Mahabharata Kulindas or Kunindas Janpad of Uttarakhand (1400-400 B.C.) to be continued…9
References and Further Reading Suggestions:
Ajaya Rawat, History of Garhwal
Alexander Cunningham, 1996, Coins of Ancient India: From Earliest times down to the Seventh century
Badri Datt Pandey, 1937, Kumaun ka Itihas, (second edition.) Shyam Prakashan, Almora (page 155-179)
B.P. Kamboj, 2003, Early Wall painting of Garhwal
C.M Agarwal history of Kumaon
Dabral, Shiv Prasad, 1968, Uttarakhand ka Itihas Bhag-2, (pages117 to321), Veer Gath Press, Dogadda, India
Dabral, Shiv Prasad, 1992, Kulinda Janpada
Dinesh Prasad Saklani, 1998, Ancient Communities of the Himalayas
D.D Sharma, 2009, Cultural History of Uttarakhand
D.P Agarwal, Jeewan Singh Kharakwal, 1995, Cist Burials of the Kumaun Himalayas
D.P Agarwal, J Kharakwal, 1995, Kumaon Archeology and Tradition, Almora Book, Almora
Hari Krishna Raturi, 1921, Garhwal ka Itihas
Imana Simha Cemjonga, 2003, History and Culture of Kirat People
Jagdish Bahadur , 2003 Indian Himalayas
J.C. Agarwal, S.P.Agarwal, S.S. Gupta, 1995, Uttarakhand: Past, Present and Future
John Whelpton, 2005, History of Nepal (page 22 , Khasa)
Khadak Singh Valdiya , 2001, Himalaya: Emergence and Evolution , Uni Press, Hyderabad, India
Khemanand Chandola, 1987 Across the Himalaya through Ages: a study of relations between Central Himalayas and Westren Tibet
K.P.Nautiyal, B.M. Khanduri, 1997, Him Kanti (page 85 for Khasa)
Kanti Prasad Nautiyal, 1969, The Archeology of Kumaon including Dehradun
K.P Nautiyal, B.M. Khanduri, 1991, Emergence of Early culture in Garhwal, Central Himalaya
Lalan Ji Gopal and Vinod Chandra Shrivastava , History of Agriculture in India (up to 1200AD(article of Dr K.P Nautiyal et all – Agriculture in Garhwal Himalayas o to 1200AD, page 162)
Maheshwar Prasad Joshi, 1990, Uttaranchal (Kumaon-Garhwal) : An Essay in Historical Anthropology, Shri Almora Book, Almora
Minyan G. Singh, 199, Wooden temples in Himachal
M.S. S Rawat (editor), Himalaya: a Regional Perspective
Mamta Chaudhari, 1977 Tribes of Ancient India
Narendra Singh Bisht and T. S Bankoti, 2004, Encyclopedic Ethnography of the Himalayan Tribes (Page for Khasa – 736)
Dr. Naval Viyogi, Professor M A Ansari, 2010 History of the Later Harappans and Shilpkara Movement (two volumes) Kalpaz Publication, Delhi, India
O.C. Handa, 2003, History of Uttaranchal (Page 22 for Khashas)
O.C. Handa, 2009, Art and Architecture of Uttarakhand
O.P Kandari and O.P Gusain, 2001, Garhwal Himalaya (Pages for Khasa- 309/360)
Parmannad Gupta, 1989, Geography from Ancient Indian Coins and Seals
Prem Hari Har Lal, 1993, The Doon valley Down the Ages, Dehradun, India
R.C. Bhatt, K.P. Nautiyal, 1987-88Trans Himalayan Burials, visa vis Malari, an Assessment, JOSHARD, Vol11-12 (pp 95-101)
R.C. Naithani, 1999, Radiant Himalayas,
Ram Naresh Pandey (A.S.I), Ancient and Medieval History of Western Nepal
S S.S. Negi, Back and beyond, Garhwal Himalaya: Nature, Culture and Society
S.S.S. Negi, Himalayan Rivers, lakes and Glaciers
Sukhdev Singh Charak, 1979, History and Culture of Himalayan states
Savita Saxena, 1995, The geographical Surveys of Puranas
Surendra Singh, 1995, Urbanization in Garhwal Himalaya: a geographical Interpretation
Upinder Singh, 2008, History of Earlier and Medieval India.
Vishwa Chandra Ohri, 1980, Himachal Art and Archeology, State Museum, Shimla , Pages 3,5 and 65)
H. Sarkar, A.Banerji 2006, Hari Smriti , Chapter ‘ The Kunindas and their Archeology in Garhwal Himalaya (pages-391-398).
New cultural Dimension in the Central Himalayas, region of Uttarakhand, an Archeological assessment:
Carleton Stevens Coon, 1962, The Origin of Race
C.S. Coon, The Races of Europe
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