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Rare sculptures discovered in Hampi - M. Ahiraj

June 23, 2015, 3:11 am
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Rare sculptures discovered in Hampi
  • M. AHIRAJ
  • The sculptures of Rama and Lakshmana; (right) the Dhanwantri Vishnu discovered at Gandha Madana hill at Hampi.— Photos: T.M. Keshav
    The sculptures of Rama and Lakshmana; (right) the Dhanwantri Vishnu discovered at Gandha Madana hill at Hampi.— Photos: T.M. Keshav
It was a trek up Gandha Madana hill that led to T.M. Keshava, former Superintending Archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), and his team discovering some rare rock sculptures at Hampi.

They found sculptures of Vishnu, in the form of ‘Dhanwantri’, sculpted on the cliff of a gigantic boulder. Adjacent to it was the sculpture of Rama, in a shooting pose, along with Lakshmana, all in royal attire, with Hanuman in the background. Next to the sculptures was a sheltered rock cave, with a structural entrance bearing a huge multi-hooded snake, with a dagger vertically above the hood and the symbol of the sun and moon on either side. These sculptures were found buried behind thick vegetation. “The findings might date back to the earlier Vijayanagar period,” says Mr. Keshava, who has done extensive studies on Hampi excavations..

“The face and crown of the Vishnu sculpture looks to be that of the ‘Amruta Kalasa’. The sculpture of Dhanwantri Vishnu, with Sridevi and Bhoodevi on either side, holding ‘Shankha’ and ‘chakra’ in his hands. This is the first time such sculptures have been found,” he says.

If you look south of the cave, you see an east-facing Nandi sculpted on a boulder. The inner side of the mahamantap is filled with sand and debris, and one has to crawl in to gain access. In front of the rock-cut Shiva temple, is the remains of a ‘Garuda’ pillar. “It appears that the whole composition was an important complex during the Vijayanagar period. Further exploration of the area may unravel unknown stages of the Vijayanagar architectural history,” he says.

When contacted, N.C. Prakash Nayakanda, Deputy Superintending Archaeologist, ASI Hampi Mini Circle, said: “There are many things that are still unexplored in Hampi. We will visit the spot where the rock sculptures were found, carry out an inspection and take photographs to maintain a record, besides initiating suitable steps for its conservation.”

Printable version | Jun 23, 2015 3:39:47 PM | http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/rare-sculptures-discovered-in-hampi/article7340439.ece
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World wakes up for Surya Namaskar on Intl. Yoga Day June 21, 2015. OM Shanti.

June 23, 2015, 5:57 am
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 Jun 21
Bringing Health & Happiness to Africa! Yogathons in South Africa,Nigeria,Tanzania on Iday of Yoga.
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How drones changed the face of journalism

June 23, 2015, 6:00 am
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21 Jun, 2015

How drones changed the face of journalism

From capturing volcanic eruption to the collapse of a building, drones have come a long way from just being used for military operations. We take you on a ride to the world of journalism - drone journalism to be precise. (Courtesy: Business Insider; by Usha Rani Das)
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Karnataka moves SC against Jayalalithaa acquittal

June 23, 2015, 6:28 am
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Published: June 23, 2015 11:08 IST | Updated: June 23, 2015 16:27 IST  New Delhi, June 23, 2015

Karnataka moves SC against Jayalalithaa acquittal

  • KRISHNADAS RAJAGOPAL
  • A file photo of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.
    The Hindu
    A file photo of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.
  • Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa leaves after filing her nomination papers for the R.K. Nagar by-election in Chennai on June 5, 2015. Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam
    The Hindu
    Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa leaves after filing her nomination papers for the R.K. Nagar by-election in Chennai on June 5, 2015. Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam
Coinciding with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa hitting the campaign trail for the R.K. Nagar by-election, the Karnataka government on Tuesday filed a special leave petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court against her acquittal by the State High Court in the disproportionate assets case.
The petition called the acquittal a "gross miscarriage of justice." It described the judgment delivered on May 11 by Justice C.R. Kumaraswamy as “cryptic, lacks reasoning and illogical.” It ridiculed the calculations arrived at by the judge, which resulted in the exoneration of Ms. Jayalalithaa and three others in the corruption case.
The SLP, while detailing the "erroneous" valuation of various items in the judgment, including construction and marriage expenses, said Justice Kumaraswamy calculated the “rates for construction of a sentry shed to fix the value of posh and palatial multi-storied buildings”.
The petition, filed through State counsel and Supreme Court advocate Joseph Aristotle, said the judge did not even bother to record cogent reasons for reversing the “well-considered judgment” delivered by trial court judge John Michael D' Cunha on September 27, 2014.
The government contended that the High Court judgment committed a grave mistake in totalling the 10 items of loans by arriving at a figure of Rs. 24,17,31,274, when on proper totalling, the same ought to be Rs. 10,67,31,274.
This, it said, resulted in the erroneous decision that the disproportionate assets was only to the extent of 8.12 per cent of the income, when actually it works out to 76.7 per cent, the disproportionate assets being Rs. 16,32,36,812 and the income as found being Rs. 21,26,65,654.
"With a pre-conceived notion, the learned HC judge proceeds to consider the case on a few aspects and then concluded that in the present case, the disproportionate assets is only to the extent of 8.12 per cent and, therefore, all the accused are entitled to an order of acquittal," the petition contended.
The judge further erred in holding that the loans from nationalised banks were not taken into consideration by the prosecuting agency, while in fact, the same was taken into consideration. The HC judge “failed in his duties as an appellate judge” and his verdict was vitiated for his erroneous approach and failure to consider material evidence on record, it said.
The SLP noted that the conclusions reached in the judgment bordered on perversity. It strongly hit out at Justice Kumaraswamy's reasoning that lack of reasonable opportunity given to the government to act as a prosecuting agency was only a "curable irregularity."
The petition reinforced the government's position as the “sole prosecuting agency” in the case. It pointed to how the accused persons had never impleaded the government in any of the proceedings, including in the Supreme Court.
The petition also objected to how Justice Kumaraswamy went the extra mile by glossing over the fact that Karnataka was reduced to a non-entity in the appeal proceedings before the High Court.
“The learned judge observes that pendency of the appeals have been widely reported in the media and, therefore, the Karnataka government must have been aware of the proceedings,” it said.
The petition further contended that the appeals were heard without even a valid appointment of a special public prosecutor.
It said the reasoning used in the Agnihotri case did not apply here, as the assets ran up to crores. The precedent in the Agnihotri case was that there would be no offence made out if the disproportionate assets were found to be less than 10 per cent of the income. “In the Agnihotri case, the excess asset found was Rs. 11,350 and the check period was 13 years. The Supreme Court had acquitted the accused in that case since the excess is comparatively small.”
Moreover, at one point, the HC judge erred by ignoring the admissions of the accused themselves as regards consideration paid towards sale of immovable property in determining the cost of construction and business income of Jaya Publications, it said.
The HC judge ignored settled principles of law by also not considering the case of conspiracy and abetment involving the accused persons, it said.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/jayalalithaa-disproportionate-assets-case-karnataka-moves-sc-against-acquittal/article7345396.ece?homepage=true
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Itihāsa of Bhāratam Janam: Vessa were Yuezhi, Kushana túṣāra, Meluhha (Mleccha) merchants of Bronze Age in Eurasia

June 23, 2015, 7:53 pm
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Mirror: http://tinyurl.com/qgghbrd

According to Zhang Guang-da, the name Yuezhi is a transliteration of their own name for themselves, the Visha ("the tribes") or Vèsh in modern Pashto meaning "divisions", being called the Vijaya in Tibetan.(History of civilizations of Central Asia, volume III: Zhang Guang-da, The city-states of the Tarim Basin, p. 284). Visha were vessā part of the four-fold grouping of a community in ancient times and principally engaged in trading activities in Meluhha caravans or as seafaring Meluhha: khattiyā brāhmaṇā vessā suddā (Pali).

Yuezhi are usually identified with the Tókharoi (Τοχάριοι), named by Greek historians among the conquerors of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom in the 2nd century BCE. (Millward, James A. (2007). Eurasian Crossroads: A History of Xinjiang. Columbia University Press, New York. p. 15.)

Who were the Tókharoi? They were túṣāra, tushara. Their lineage are likely to have been involved in the dissemination of Sanghata-sutra which is a very long Bauddham text mostly dealing with the merit accruing from reciting, copying, etc., the text itself, but containing a number of interesting parables. Many complete folios and numerous fragments are extant. The gloss sanghata is instructive. This is a rebus representation of the Indus script hieroglyph: sangaDa 'lathe, portable furnace' which is frequently deployed to denote metalwork catalogs in Indus Script Corpora which are Meluhha texts written in mlecchita vikalpa, 'Meluhha cipher'. Varahamihira explains the phrase Vajra sanghAta as: 'adamantine glue' in archaeometallurgical terms which is consistent with the rendering of semantics of Bhāratam Janam as 'metalcaster folk' in Rigveda.

Image result for standard lathe indus scriptImage result for indus hieroglyphs lathe portable furnaceSangar 'fortification', Afghanistan (evoking the citadels and fortifications at hundreds of archaeological sites of Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization).

Sanghata Sutra (Ārya Sanghāta Sūtra; Devanagari, आर्य सङ्घाट सूत्र) is a Mahāyāna Buddhist scripture widely circulated in northwest India and Central Asia. Manuscripts of the Sanghāta have been recovered in Gilgit (in 1931 and 1938), Khotan, Dunhuang, and other sites in Central Asia along the silk route. Translations appear in Khotanese, Sogdian, Chinese, Tibetan and English. "In standard Sanskrit, sanghāta is a term meaning the ‘fitting and joining of timbers’ or ‘the work done by a carpenter in joining two pieces of wood,’ and can refer to carpentry in general. It has a specialized use in a few Buddhist Sanskrit texts, where it means ‘vessel’ or ‘jar,’ and this image of ‘something that contains’ is evoked several times within the sutra, when Buddha calls the Sanghāta a ‘treasury of Dharma.’
Whether we take sanghāta as having the sense of joining or connecting that it has in standard Sanskrit, or the sense of holding or containing that it can have in Buddhist Sanskrit, the question remains as to just what is connected or held. One possible interpretation is that what is connected are sentient beings, and they are joined or connected by the Sanghāta to enlightenment. This suggestion—that what the Sanghāta joins is sentient beings to enlightenment—was offered by Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche during an oral transmission of the text in 2003. In this, we find an idea that we readers and reciters are the material that the Sanghāta is working on, as it shapes us, and connects us to our enlightenment in such a way that we will never turn back. This, indeed, is what Sarvashura initially requests the Buddha to give: a teaching that can ensure that the young ones are never disconnected from their path to enlightenment." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanghata_Sutra


Source: Janos Harmatta (Editor), B. N. Puri (Editor), G. F. Etemadi (Editor), 1994, History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The Development of Sedentary and Nomadic Civilizations, 700 BCE to 250 CE, Unesco, p.399. 

Contributors: A. H. Dani, UNESCO Staff, M. S. Asimov, B. A. Litvinsky, Guang-da Zhang, R. Shabani Samghabadi, C. E. Bosworth, Unesco,  01-Jan-1994 - 574 pages. Volume II presents an account of various population movements and cultural exchanges in Central Asia between 700 B.C. and 250 A.D. Important nomadic tribal cultures such as the Kushans emerged during this period. Contacts between the Mediterranean and the Indus Valley were reinforced by the campaigns of Alexander the Great and, under his successors, the progressive syncretism between Zoroastrianism, Greek religion and Buddhism gave rise to a new civilization instituted by the Parthians, known for its artistic creations. Under Kushan rule, Central Asia became the crossroads of a prosperous trade between the Mediterranean and China along the Silk Route.

Yuezhi were Tocharian-speakers. Christopher Beckwith's narrative on Central Eurasian history begins with the chariot warriors and the Proto-Indo-Europeans in the late 3rd millennium BCE. Christopher Beckwith argues that the character 月, usually read as Old Chinese *ŋʷjat > Mod. yuè, could have been pronounced in an archaic northwestern dialect as *tokwar or *togwar, a form that resembles the Bactrian name Toχοαρ (Toχwar ~ Tuχwar) and the medieval form Toχar ~ Toχâr.(Beckwith, Christopher I. (2009). Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present. Princeton University Press, page 5, footnote #16, as well as pages 380–383 in appendix B.) Christopher Beckwith "equates the Tokharians with the Yuezhi, and the Wusun with the Asvins, as if these are established facts, and refers to his arguments in appendix B. But these identifications remain controversial, rather than established, for most scholars." As succinctly sumamrised by Doug Hitch, Christopher Beckwith proposes three migratory waves of languages from Urheimat (the PIE homeland): wave A with one set of stop consonants (Tocharian, Anatolian), wave B with three (Germanic, Italic, Greek, Indic, Armenian), and wave C with two (Celtic, Slavic, Baltic, Albanian, Iranian)(p.365).(Hitch, Doug (2010). "Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present" in: Journal of the American Oriental Society 130 (4): 654–658.) 
http://www.ynlc.ca/ynlc/staff/hitch/review_of_Beckwith.pdf (Embedded) https://www.scribd.com/doc/269518451/Review-of-Christopher-Beckwith-s-Empires-of-the-Silk-Road-A-history-of-central-Eurasdia-from-th-Bronze-Age-to-the-Present-JAOS-130-4-2010-pp-65

For the pronunciation of Mod. yuè, as *togwar (cognate túṣāra) see: Baxter, William H. (1992). A Handbook of Old Chinese Phonology. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. p. 806. 

Thus, yuè-zhi were indeed Tushara of Vedic texts,

túṣāra m. sg. and pl. ʻ frost, snow, mist, dew, thin rain ʼ MBh., adj. ʻ cold ʼ Kālid.
Pk. tusāra -- n. ʻ hoarfrost, snow ʼ; Ku. tusyāro, tos ʻ frost ʼ (y?); N. tusāro ʻ snow, hoarfrost, dew ʼ; B. tusār ʻ cold, dew, drizzle ʼ; H. tusār ʻ cold ʼ, m. ʻ cold, frost, snow, ice, hail, dew, mist, thin rain, blight, crop ripening in cold season ʼ, tusārā, °rū ʻ cold, frosty ʼ; M. tusār, °rā m. ʻ drizzle ʼ; Si. tusara ʻ dew, mist ʼ, adj. ʻ cold ʼ. -- K. tṳ̄run ʻ to freeze ʼ < *tuhār -- ?(CDIAL 5894). It is suggested that the Tókharoi derived their self-designation from the gloss: túṣāra, 'frost, snow' considering the snow-clad Himalayan ranges of Xinjiang they migrated to and settled in.

They were "...Tusharas, also known as the Tukharas or Tócharoi, were a tribe of ancient India, with a kingdom located in the north west of India, according to the epic Mahabharata. An account in Mbh 1:85 depicts the Tusharas as Mlechchas and the descendants of Anu, one of the cursed sons of king Yayati. Yayati's eldest son Yadu, gave rise to the Yadavas and youngest son Puru to the Pauravas that includes the Kurus and Panchalas. Only the fifth son of Puru's line was considered to be the successors of Yayati's throne, as he cursed the other four sons and denied them kingship. Pauravas inherited the Yayati's original empire and stayed in the Gangetic plainwho later created the Kuru and Panchala Kingdoms. They were followers of the Vedic culture. The Yadavas made central and western India their stronghold. The descendants of Anu, known as the Anavas, are said to have migrated to Iran." 

Puranic traditions (Bhagavata Purana) say that Budha, the patriarchic figure the Yadu, Turvasa, Druhyu, Anu and Puru clans had come from Central Asia to Bharatkhand to perform penitential rites and he espoused Ella, the daughter of Manu, by whom was born Pururavas. Pururavas had six sons, one of whom is said to be Ayu. This Ayu or Ay is said to be the patriarch figure of the Tartars of Central Asia as well as of the first race of the kings of China. (James Tod, Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, p 172.)

Pururavas and Urvasi had two sons, Ayu and Amavasu.Referring to these sons, Baudhāyana Śrauta Sūtra 18.44:397.9 sqq records:

Ayu migrated eastwards. His (people) are the Kuru-Pancalas and the Kasi-Videhas. This is the Ayava (migration). Amavasu migrated westwards. His (people) are the Ghandhari, Parsu and Aratta. This is the Amavasu (migration).

Read with the Bhagavata Purana narrative, it is hypothesised that Ayu's people migrated to Xinjiang region and were referred to as Visha ("the tribes") or Vèsh in modern Pashto meaning "divisions" or Vijaya in Tibetan or Yuezhi in Chinese (identified with Tókharoi or Tushara). These were the people who migrated back to Gandhara and North-west India as Kushanas -- as shown in the Yuezi migration map from Tocharian-speaking region. It is notable that Tocharian records the Rigvedic word ams'u (a synonym of Soma) in a phonetic variant ancu'iron' (cf. Georges Pinault).Rigveda also records that Soma was purchased from traders from Mujavant mountain (which could be Mustagh Ata of Tocharian-seaking region).

Many theories have been propounded to identify the origin of Yuezhi people: The Rishikas are said to be same as the Yuezhis (Dr V. S. Aggarwala). The Kushanas or Kanishkas are also the same people (Dr J. C. Vidyalankara). Prof Stein says that the Tukharas were a branch of the Yue-chi or Yuezhi. Tusharas/Tukharas (Tokharois/Tokarais) and the Yuezhi are stated to be same people (Dr P.C. Bagchi). 

Stein's contention that Tukharas (Tushara) were a branch of Yuezhi is consistent with Ayu peoples' migration to Xinjiang as Tartars, the first race of the kings of China. This is corroborated by the statement in Vayu Purana and Matsya Purana, that river Chakshu (Oxus) flowed through the countries of Tusharas (Rishikas?), Lampakas, Pahlavas, Paradas and Shakas etc.

These Tushara mleccha (Meluhha) were the people of Sarasvati_Sindhu Civilization who created the Indus Script Corpora.

The Chinese kept referring to the Kushans as Da Yuezhi throughout the centuries. In the Sanguozhi (三國志, chap. 3), it is recorded that in 229 CE, "The king of the Da Yuezhi, Bodiao 波調 (Vasudeva I), sent his envoy to present tribute, and His Majesty (EmperorCao Rui) granted him the title of King of the Da Yuezhi Intimate with the Wei (魏) (Ch: 親魏大月氏王, Qīn Wèi Dà Yuèzhī Wáng)." 
...
In a sweeping analysis of the physical types and cultures of Central Asia that he visited in 126 BCE, Zhang Qian reports that "although the states from Dayuan west to Anxi (Parthia), speak rather different languages, their customs are generally similar and their languages mutually intelligible. The men have deep-set eyes and profuse beards and whiskers. They are skilful at commerce and will haggle over a fraction of a cent. Women are held in great respect, and the men make decisions on the advice of their women."(Shiji123)(Watson 1993, p. 245. Watson, Burton (1993), Records of the Grand Historian of China: Han Dynasty II (revised ed.)Translated from the Shiji of Sima Qian., p. 245)

"The Great Yuezhi [Kushans] is located about seven thousand li (about 3000 km) north of India. Their land is at a high altitude; the climate is dry; the region is remote. The king of the state calls himself "son of heaven". There are so many riding horses in that country that the number often reaches several hundred thousand. City layouts and palaces are quite similar to those of Daqin (the Roman empire). The skin of the people there is reddish white. People are skilful at horse archery. Local products, rarities, treasures, clothing, and upholstery are very good, and even India cannot compare with it." [Benjamin, Craig (October 2003). "The Yuezhi Migration and Sogdia". Transoxiana Webfestschrift (Transoxiana) 1 (Ēran ud Anērān).] Note: Craig Benjamin's article "The Yuezhi Migration and Sogdia"is embedded for ready reference.

These textual references indicating indicate that Yuezhi were traders, that they dealt with handicrafts and 'rarities, treasures', which was the hall-mark of Meluhha who have created metalwork catalogues as Indus Script Corpora with about 7000 inscriptions. Yuezhi were the Meluhha (mleccha). They were the vessa, vēsa, Vaiśya 'traders' (cognate Yuezhi). They could also have included the ivory-carvers of Begram who moved to Kankali-Tila, Mathura, Bharhut, Sanchi to create the architectural marvels of Stupa and Torana with Indus Script hierolyphs venerating dharma-dhamma.

Yuezhi or Rouzhi (Chinese: 月氏; pinyin: Yuèzhī, Wade–Giles Yüeh-chih) were an ancient Indo-European people. (Loewe, Michael; Shaughnessy, Edward L. (1999). The Cambridge History of Ancient China: From the Origins of Civilization to 221 BC. Cambridge University Press. pp. 87–88.). These were Meluhha speakers who had settled in the grasslands of Tarim Basin area which is today Xinjiang and western Gansu, in China. Yuezhi or Tókharoi (Τοχάριοι) or Tushara, migrated to Bactria and founded the Kushan Empire, which 'stretched from Turfan in the Tarim basin to Pataliputra on the Gangetic plain at its greatest extent, and played an important role in the development of the Silk Road and the transmission of Buddhism to China."https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuezhi 

In the Indian tradition, the Yuezhi can be called the chandra-vams'i since the name Yuezi in Chinese is formed with yuè (月) "moon" and shì (氏) "clan".

The Yuezhi were organized into five major tribes, each led by a yabgu, or tribal chief, and known to the Chinese as Xiūmì (休密) in Western Wakhān and Zibak, Guishuang (貴霜) in Badakhshan and the adjoining territories north of the Oxus, Shuangmi (雙靡) in the region of Shughnan, Xidun (肸頓) in the region of Balkh, and Dūmì (都密) in the region of Termez.(Hill, John E. (2003). The Peoples of the West from the Weilüe 魏略 by Yu Huan 魚豢: A Third Century Chinese Account Composed between 239 and 265 CE. Draft annotated English translation,pp. 29, 318–350).


It is notable that ancient Indian tradition also divided the community into five groups, panchal, five artisans, each guild led by a chief.There is a gloss in Sumerian and Gujarati (Indian sprachbund) denoting a pilgrim's companion: sanga 'priest'(Sumerian/Akkadian); sanghvi (Gujarati).

பஞ்சகம்மாளர் pañca-kammāḷar , n. < pañcantaṭṭāṉ, kaṉṉāṉ, ciṟpaṉ, taccaṉ, kollaṉ; தட்டான், கன்னான், சிற்பன், தச்சன் கொல்லன் என்ற ஐவகைப் பட்ட கம்மாளர். (சங். அக.) அஞ்சுபஞ்சலத்தார் añcu-pañcalattār , n. < அஞ்சு + பஞ்சாளத்தார். Pañca-kammāḷar, the five artisan classes; பஞ்சகம்மாளர். (I. M. P. Cg. 371.) pañcālá m. ʻ name of a tribe in North India ʼ ŚBr.
Pk. paṁcāla -- m. ʻ id. ʼ; K. panzāl m. ʻ the Pīr Panjāl range south of the valley of Kashmir ʼ.(CDIAL 7680) pāˊñcāla ʻ of the Pañcālas ʼ MBh. [pañcāla -- ] H. pãcāl ʻ clever, deceitful ʼ?(CDIAL 8029) pāñcāla पाञ्चाल a. (-ली f.) Belonging to or ruling over the Pañchālas. -लः 1 The country of the Pañchālas. -2 A prince of the Pañchālas. -लाः m. (pl.) 1 The people of the Pañchālas. -2 An association of five guilds (i e. of a carpenter, weaver, barber, washer- man, and shoe-maker). pāñcālaka पाञ्चालक a. Belonging to the people of the Pañchālas. -कः A king of that country. pāñcālī पाञ्चाली 1 A woman or princess of the Pañchālas. -2 N. of Draupadī, the wife of the Pāṇḍavas. (Samskritam. Apte)
map
Yueh-ChihMigrations.jpg
The migrations of the Yuezhi through Central Asia, from around 176 BCE to 30 CE

ویش wes̱ẖ,s.m. (2nd) Division, share, distribution, portion. 2. A division or interchange of lands peculiar to Yūsufzīs and a few other clans, a kind of agrarian law. Pl. ویشونه wes̱ẖūnah. ویشل wes̱ẖal, verb trans. To divide, to share, to distribute, to portion, to apportion, to distribute. Pres. ویشي wes̱ẖī; past ؤ ویشه wu-wes̱ẖah; fut. ؤ به ویشي wu bah wes̱ẖī; imp. ؤ ویشه wu-wes̱ẖah; act. part. ویشونکيَ wes̱ẖūnkaey or ویشونيَ wes̱ẖūnaey; past part. ویشليَ wes̱ẖalaey; verb. n. ویشنه wes̱ẖanaʿh. (Pashto)

VIŚ ʻ enter, settle in ʼ:vēśá1 m. ʻ inhabitant (of a víś -- ), neighbour ʼ RV. [víś -- f. ʻ tribe, habitation ʼ RV. -- √viś] Kho. Kal.rumb. gram -- bešu ʻ neighbour ʼ (< *vēśaka -- BelvalkarVol 90).(CDIAL 12124) vḗśa2 m. ʻ habitation ʼ VS. (= víś -- : VS. vḗśān dhāraya ~ RV. viśāˊṁ dhártr̥ -- ), ʻ house ʼ Daś. -- See vēśa -- 3. [√viś](CDIAL 12125) vēśíya metr. for vēśyà -- m. ʻ inhabitant ʼ RV. [vḗśa -- 2] Kt. vušī ʻ neighbour ʼ (Rep1 57 < vēśin -- ).(CDIAL 12127)  vaíśya m. ʻ peasant as member of the third caste ʼ RV. adj. ʻ belonging to such ʼ MBh. (n. ʻ vassalage ʼ TS.). [vḗśa -- 1 or vēśyà --] Pa. vessa -- m., °sī -- , °sikā -- f. ʻ member of the third caste ʼ, Pk. vessa -- , vēsa -- m., vēsī -- f.; Si. vessā, st. ves<-> ʻ merchant ʼ; -- A. behā ʻ trade ʼ. vaiśyavr̥tti -- Add. 14810.(CDIAL 12150). Vessa [cp. Vedic vaiśya, a dial. (local) word] a Vaiśya, i. e. a member of the third social (i. e. lower) grade (see vaṇṇa 6), a man of the people D iii.81, 95 (origin); Si.102, 166; iv.219; v.51; A i.162; ii.194; iii.214, 242; Vbh 394; DA i.254 (origin). -- f. vesī (q. v.); vessī (as a member of that caste) D i.193; A iii.226, 229.Vessikā (f.) [fr. vessa] a Vaiśya woman Sn 314.(Pali)

Vaṇṇa [cp. Vedic varṇa, of vṛ: see vuṇāti. Customary definition as "vaṇṇane" at Dhtp 572] appearance etc. (lit. "cover, coating"). There is a considerable fluctuation of meaning, especially between meanings 2, 3, 4. One may group as follows. -- 1. colour Sn 447 (meda˚); S v.216 (chavi˚ of the skin); A iii.324 (sankha˚); Th 1, 13 (nīl'abbha˚); Vv 4510 (danta˚=ivory white); Pv iv.39; DhA ii.3 (aruṇa˚); SnA 319 (chavi˚); VvA 2 (vicitta˚); PvA 215. Six colours are usually enumd as vaṇṇā, viz.nīla pīta lohitaka odāta mañjeṭṭha pabhassara Ps i.126; cp. the 6 colours under rūpa at Dhs 617 (where kāḷaka for pabbassara); J i.12 (chabbaṇṇa -- buddha -- rasmiyo). Groups of five see under pañca 3 (cp. J i.222). -- dubbaṇṇa of bad colour, ugly S i.94; A v.61; Ud 76; Sn 426; It 99; Pug 33; VvA 9; PvA 32, 68. Opp.suvaṇṇa of beautiful colour, lovely A v.61; It 99. Also as term for "silver." -- As t. t. in descriptions or analyses (perhaps better in meaning "appearance") in abl.vaṇṇato by colour, with saṇṭhānato and others: Vism 184 ("kāḷa vā odāta vā manguracchavi vā"), 243=VbhA 225; Nett 27. -- 2. appearance S i.115 (kassaka -- vaṇṇaŋ abhinimminitvā); J i.84 (id. with māṇavaka˚); Pv ii.110 (=chavi -- vaṇṇa PvA 71); iii.32 (kanakassa sannibha); VvA 16; cp. ˚dhātu. -- 3. lustre, splendour (cp. next meaning) D iii.143 (suvaṇṇa˚, or=1); Pv ii.962 (na koci devo vaṇṇena sambuddhaŋ atirocati); iii.91 (suriya˚); Vv 291 (=sarīr' obhāsa VvA 122); PvA 10 (suvaṇṇa˚), 44. -- 4. beauty (cp. vaṇṇavant) D ii.220 (abhikkanta˚); M i.142 (id.); D iii.68 (āyu+); Pv ii.910 (=rūpa -- sampatti PvA 117). Sometimes combd with other ideals, as (in set of 5): āyu, sukha, yasa, sagga A iii.47; or āyu, yasa, sukha, ādhipacca J iv.275, or (4): āyu, sukha, bala A iii.63. -- 5. expression, look, specified as mukha˚, e. g. S iii.2, 235; iv.275 sq.; A v.342; Pv iii.91; PvA 122. <-> 6. colour of skin, appearance of body, complexion M ii.32 (parama), 84 (seṭṭha); A iii.33 (dibba); iv.396 (id.); Sn 610 (doubtful, more likely because of its combn with sara to below 8!), 686 (anoma˚); Vism 422 (evaŋ˚=odato vā sāmo vā). Cp.˚pokkharatā. <-> In special sense applied as distinguishing mark of race or species, thus also constituting a mark of class (caste) distinction & translatable as "(social) grade, rank, caste" (see on term Dial. i.27, 99 sq.; cp. Vedic ārya varṇa and dāsa varṇa RV ii.12, 9; iii.34, 9: see Zimmer, Altind. Leben 113 and in greater detail Macdonell & Keith, Vedic Index ii.247 sq.). The customary enumn is of 4 such grades, viz. khattiyā brāhmaṇā vessā suddā Vin ii.239; A iv.202; M ii.128, but cp. Dial. i.99 sq. -- See also Vin iv.243 (here applied as general term of "grade" to the alms -- bowls: tayo pattassa vaṇṇā, viz. ukkaṭṭha, majjhima, omaka; cp. below 7); D i.13, 91; J vi.334; Miln 225 (khattiya˚, brāhmaṇa˚). -- 7. kind, sort Miln 128 (nānā˚), cp. Vin iv.243, as mentioned under 6. -- 8. timbre (i. e. appearance) of voice, contrasted to sara intonation, accent; may occasionally be taken as "vowel." See A i.229 (+sara); iv.307 (id.); Sn 610 (id., but may mean "colour of skin": see 6), 1132 (giraŋ vaṇṇ' upasaŋhitaŋ, better than meaning "comment"); Miln 340 (+sara). <-> 9. constitution, likeness, property; adj. ( -- ˚) "like": aggi˚ like fire Pviii.66 (=aggi -- sadisa PvA 203). -- 10. ("good impression") praise DhA i.115 (magga˚); usually combd and contrasted with avaṇṇa blame, e. g. D i.1, 117, 174; A i.89; ii.3; iii.264; iv.179, 345; DA i.37. -- 11. reason ("outward appearance") S i.206 (=kāraṇa K.S. i.320); Vv 846 (=kāraṇa VvA 336); Pv iv.16 (id. PvA 220); iv.148.-- āroha (large) extent of beauty Sn 420. -- kasiṇa the colour circle in the practice of meditation VbhA 251. -- kāraka (avaṇṇe) one who makes something (unsightly) appear beautiful J v.270. -- da giving colour, i. e. beauty Sn 297. -- dada giving beauty A ii.64. -- dasaka the ten (years) of complexion or beauty (the 3rd decade in the life of man) Vism 619; J iv.497. -- dāsī "slave of beauty," courtezan, prostitute J i.156 sq., 385; ii.367, 380; iii.463; vi.300; DhA i.395; iv.88. -- dhātu composition or condition of appearance, specific form, material form, natural beauty S i.131; Pv i.31; PvA 137 (=chavivaṇṇa); DhsA 15. -- patha see vaṇṇu˚.-- pokkharatā beauty of complexion D i.114, 115; A i.38; ii.203; Pug 66; VbhA 486 (defd); DhA iii.389; PvA 46. -- bhū place of praise J i.84 (for ˚bhūmi: see bhū2). -- bhūta being of a (natural) species PvA 97. -- vādin saying praise, praising D i.179, 206; A ii.27; V.164 sq.; Vin ii.197. -- sampanna endowed with beauty A i.244 sq., 288; ii.250 sq.(Pali)

विश्[p= 732,2] (or बिश्) cl.1 P. बेशति , to go Dha1tup. xvii , 71 (= √ पिस् q.v.) to enter , enter in or settle down on , go into to enter (a house &c ) Hariv.  ; f. (m. only L. ; nom. sg. व्/इट् ; loc. pl. विक्ष्/उ) a settlement , homestead , house , dwelling (विश्/अस् प्/अति " lord of the house " applied to अग्नि and इन्द्र) RV.(sg. and pl.) the people ÎºÎ±Ï„á¾½ , á¼Î¾Î¿Ï‡Î®Î½ , (in the sense of those who settle on the soil ; sg. also " a man of the third caste " , a वैश्य ; विशाम् with पतिः or नाथः or ईश्वरः &c , " lord of the people " , a king , sovereign) S3Br. &c(pl.) property , wealth BhP.mf. a man in general , person L.

viṣaya m. ʻ scope ʼ ŚāṅkhŚr., ʻ sphere, region ʼ MBh. [√viṣ] Pa. Pk. visaya -- m. ʻ sphere, locality ʼ; -- Si. visā ʻ district ʼ (EGS 166) ← Pa.?(CDIAL 11973) vḗṣa -- 1 m. ʻ work, activity ʼ VS. [√viṣ]

विषय[p= 997,1] a country with more than 100 villages L.; m. (ifc. f(आ). ; prob. either fr √1. विष् , " to act " , or fr. वि + √ सि , " to extend " cf. Pa1n2. 8-3 , 70 Sch.) sphere (of influence or activity) , dominion , kingdom , territory , region , district , country , abode (pl. = lands , possessions) Mn. MBh. &c; special sphere or department , peculiar province or field of action , peculiar element , concern (ifc. = " concerned with , belonging to , intently engaged on " ; विषये , with gen. or ifc. = " in the sphere of , with regard or reference to " ; अत्र विषये , " with regard to this object ") MBh. Ka1v. &c; a symbolical N. of the number " five " VarBr2S.anything perceptible by the senses , any object of affection or concern or attention , any special worldly object or aim or matter or business , (pl.) sensual enjoyments , sensuality Kat2hUp. Mn. MBh. &c




कौश kauśaकौश a. (-शी f.) [कुश-अण्] 1 Silken; Bhāg.3.4.7.-2 Made of Kuśa grass.-शम् An epithet of Kānya- kubja.द्वीपः पम् [द्विर्गता द्वयोर्दिशोर्वा गता आपो यत्र; द्वि-अप्, अप ईप्] 1 An island. -2 A place of refuge, shelter, pro- tection. -3 A division of the terrestrial world; (the number of these divisions varies according to different authorities, being four, seven, nine or thirteen, all situated round the mountain Meru like the petals of a lotus flower, and each being separated from the other by a distinct ocean. [In N. 1.5 the Dvīpas are said to be eighteen; but seven appears to be the usual number :- जम्बु, प्लक्ष, शाल्मलि, कुश, क्रौञ्च, शाक and पुष्कर; cf. Bhāg.5.1.32; R.1.65; and पुरा सप्तदीपां जयति वसुधामप्रतिरथः Ś.7.33. The central one is जम्बुद्वीप in which is included भरतखण्ड or India.]  कुश [p= 296,3] m. grass S3Br. S3a1n3khS3r. Ka1tyS3r. A1s3vGr2. the sacred grass used at certain religious ceremonies (Poa cynosuroides , a grass with long pointed stalks) Mn. Ya1jn5. MBh. &cf. a rope (made of कुश grass) used for connecting the yoke of a plough with the pole L. कुशी (= कुशा) a small pin (used as a mark in recitation and consisting of wood [ MaitrS. iv] or of metal [TBr. i S3Br. iii]) f. a ploughshare L.  कुशा f. ( Pa1n2. 8-3 , 46) a small pin or piece of wood (used as a mark in recitation) La1t2y. ii , 6 , 1 and 4 (Monier-Williams)
QizilDonors.jpg
Wall painting of "Tocharian Princes" from Cave of the Sixteen Sword-Bearers (no. 8), Qizil, Tarim Basin, Xinjiang, China. Carbon 14 date: 432–538 CE. Original in Museum für Indische Kunst, Berlin.

Possible Yuezhi king and attendants, Gandhara stone palette, 1st century CE



Shu-ilishu cylinder seal of eme-bal, interpreter. Akkadian. Cylinder seal Impression. Inscription records that it belongs to ‘S’u-ilis’u, Meluhha interpreter’, i.e., translator of the Meluhhan language (EME.BAL.ME.LUH.HA.KI) The Meluhhan being introduced carries an goat on his arm. Musee du Louvre. Ao 22 310, Collection De Clercq 3rd millennium BCE. The Meluhhan is accompanied by a lady carrying a kamaṇḍalu. The goat on the trader's hand is a phonetic determinant -- that he is Meluhha. This is decrypted based on the word for the goat: mlekh 'goat' (Brahui); mr..eka 'goat' (Telugu) Rebus: mleccha'copper' (Samskritam); milakkhu 'copper' (Pali) Thus the sea-faring merchant carrying the goat is a copper (and tin) trader from Meluhha. The jar carried by the accompanying person is a liquid measure:ranku 'liquid measure' Rebus: ranku 'tin'. A hieroglyph used to denote ranku may be seen on the two pure tin ingots found in a shipwreck in Haifa. See Annex on Tarim Basin mummies and Meluhha speakers.


Elamite, holding a goat (Gold, silver cire perduestatues) ca. 1400 BCE. mlekh, mr..eka 'goat' (Brahui.Telugu) Rebus: milakkhu 'Meluhha, mleccha''copper' (Pali)
Head of a warrior. Khalchayan. Painted clay. (Photo: © Vladimir Terebenin.)


Meluhha (Bhāratam Janam) trade routes 1. From Hanoi to West of Sindhu to Haifa (assur meluhha)and 2. Eurasia (túṣāra meluhha)

[quote]From the sixth century BCE, land and river routes criss-crossed the subcontinent and extended in various directions – overland into Central Asia and beyond, and overseas, from ports that dotted the coastline – extending across the Arabian Sea to East and North Africa and West Asia, and through the Bay of Bengal to Southeast Asia and China. Rulers often attempted to control these routes, possibly by offering protection for a price.


See: http://www.quora.com/Did-ancient-India-trade













Annex: Tarim Basin mummies and Meluhha speakers

Some Tarim mummies on trade caravans spoke Mleccha (Meluhha) before they were mummies

Mirror:https://www.academia.edu/11382844/Some_Tarim_mummies_on_trade_caravans_spoke_Mleccha_Meluhha_before_they_were_mummies

This hypothesis needs to be tested by archaeometallurgical and historical linguistic studies from an extended area from Ancient Far East to Ancient Near East. This is also an imperative in the context of a new start for Vedic and IE studies. Evidence of contact between Vedic and Tocharian has already been attested in the cognate expressions: ams'u (Vedic), ancu (Tocharian). The circular stones in funerary practices unite Tocharian and Dholavira. By the 6th century CE, the Brihat Samhita of Varahamihira also locates the Tusharas with Barukachcha (Bhroach) and Barbaricum (on the IndusDelta) near the sea in western India: bharukaccha.samudra.romaka.tushrah.. :(BrhatsamhitaXVI.6). If contacts with area lived in by speakers of Kafiri (Nuristani) was a transit point, Tushara could also have arrived to settle in Barukachcha from this detour from Kyrgystan (Muztagh Ata), taking a caravan route south of the Oxus (Amu Darya) river. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tushara_Kingdom 

What language did the people of Sarasvati-Sindhu doab river basins (with about 2,600 archaeological sites) speak? Given the evidence of Buddhist Hybrid Samskritam (BHS) in the Tarim Basin documents and the links between Rigvedic people and Tushara (Tocharian) in trade transactions of Soma (synonyms, metaphors: ams'u, ancu), a proto-BHS, or Proto-Indo-Aryan, or Early Indo-European, Mleccha (Meluhha) is suggested as the language of the metalworkers of the Bronze Age. Mleccha, 'copper' (Samskritam) provides the profession of Mleccha-speakers, 'metal workers', also referred to by cognate expressions: Milakkha (Pali), Meluhha (Akkadian on a Shu-ilishu cylinder seal). A reference to the metalworkers is contained in the expression used in Rigveda to denote the people in general by Rigveda Rishi Visvamitra: Bharatam Janam, 'lit. metalworker people'. Chandas, 'prosody' represented the liturgical version of an Indo-European language and Mleccha/Meluhha 'parole or speech' represented the administrative version of the language used predominantly by trader caravans (as attested by Tarim Mummies and the Tin Road from Asshur to Kanesh in Ancient Near East), by metalworkers, in general and by specialist cire perdue metalcasters,dhokra kamar, in particular. The expression, kamar is an Indo-European gloss: karmāˊra m. ʻ blacksmith ʼ RV. [EWA i 176 < stem *karmar -- ~ karman -- , but perh. with ODBL 668 ← Drav. cf. Tam. karumā ʻ smith, smelter ʼ whence meaning ʻ smith ʼ was transferred also to karmakāra -- ] Pa. kammāra -- m. ʻ worker in metal ʼ; Pk. kammāra -- , °aya -- m. ʻ blacksmith ʼ, A. kamār, B. kāmār; Or. kamāra ʻ blacksmith, caste of non -- Aryans, caste of fishermen ʼ; Mth.kamār ʻ blacksmith ʼ, Si. kam̆burā. 
Md. kan̆buru ʻ blacksmith ʼ.(CDIAL 2898). kamar 'artisan, smith, smelter' (Santali) karum (Akkadian: kārum "quay, port, commercial district", plural kārū, from Sumerian kar "fortification (of a harbor), break-water" is also perhaps an expression related to karumā  'smith, smelter' or  khārun, 'the trough into which the blacksmith allows melted iron to flow after smelting' (Kashmiri, see below) of this Indian sprachbund.

The roots of the expression are found in Kashmiri where a number of compounds are attested and hence provide the trade route across Karakoram and Pamir, from Muztagh Ata through Kashmir to Sarasvati-Sindhu river basins: khār 1 खार् । लोहकारः m. (sg. abl. khāra 1 खार; the pl. dat. of this word is khāran 1 खारन्, which is to be distinguished from khāran 2, q.v., s.v.), a blacksmith, an iron worker (cf.bandūka-khār, p. 111b, l. 46; K.Pr. 46; H. xi, 17); a farrier (El.). This word is often a part of a name, and in such case comes at the end (W. 118) as in Wahab khār, Wahab the smith (H. ii, 12; vi, 17). khāra-basta खार-बस््त । चर्मप्रसेविका f. the skin bellows of a blacksmith. -büṭhü -ब&above;ठू&below; । लोहकारभित्तिः f. the wall of a blacksmith's furnace or hearth. -bāy -बाय् । लोहकारपत्नी f. a blacksmith's wife (Gr.Gr. 34). -dŏkuru ; । लोहकारायोघनः m. a blacksmith's hammer, a sledge-hammer. -gȧji ; or -güjü; । लोहकारचुल्लिः f. a blacksmith's furnace or hearth. -hāl -हाल् । लोहकारकन्दुः f. (sg. dat. -höjü ;), a blacksmith's smelting furnace; cf. hāl 5. -kūrü ; । लोहकारकन्या f. a blacksmith's daughter. -koṭu ; । लोहकारपुत्रः m. the son of a blacksmith, esp. a skilful son, who can work at the same profession. -küṭü -; । लोहकारकन्या f. a blacksmith's daughter, esp. one who has the virtues and qualities properly belonging to her father's profession or caste. -më˘ʦü 1 ; । लोहकारमृत्तिका f. (for 2, see [khāra 3] ), 'blacksmith's earth,' i.e. iron-ore. -nĕcyuwu -न्यचिवु&below; । लोहकारात्मजः m. a blacksmith's son. -nay -नय् । लोहकारनालिका f. (for khāranay 2, see [khārun] ), the trough into which the blacksmith allows melted iron to flow after smelting. -ʦañĕ -च्&dotbelow;ञ । लोहकारशान्ताङ्गाराः f.pl. charcoal used by blacksmiths in their furnaces. -wān वान् । लोहकारापणः m. a blacksmith's shop, a forge, smithy (K.Pr. 3). -waṭh -वठ् । आघाताधारशिला m. (sg. dat. -waṭas -वटि), the large stone used by a blacksmith as an anvil.

"Early references to karū come from the Ebla tablets; in particular, a vizier known as Ebrium concluded the earliest treaty fully known to archaeology, known variously as the "Treaty between Ebla and Aššur" or the "Treaty with Abarsal" (scholars have disputed whether the text refers to Aššur or to Abarsal, an unknown location). In either case, the other city contracted to establish karū in Eblaite territory (Syria), among other things... By 1960 BC, Assyrian merchants had established the karū,[5] small colonial settlements next to Anatolian cities which paid taxes to the rulers of the cities.[6] There were also smaller trade stations which were called mabartū (singular mabartum). The number of karū and mabartū was probably around twenty. Among them were Kültepe (Kanesh in antiquity) in modern Kayseri Province; Alişar Hüyük (Ankuva (?) in antiquity) in modern Yozgat Province; and Boğazköy (Hattusa in antiquity) in modern Çorum Province. (However, Alişar Hüyük was probably a mabartum.)(a metal in trade transactions)... amutum, was even more valuable than gold. Amutum is thought to be the newly discovered iron and was forty times more valuable than silver. The most important Anatolian export was copper, and the Assyrian merchants sold tin and clothing to Anatolia." (Ekrem Akurgal: Anadolu Kültür Tarihi, Tubitak, Ankara, 2000, pp. 40-41).  It is possible that amutum also relates to Vedic-Tocharian ams'u-ancu.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karum_(trade_post)
Letter from Assyria to karum Kanesh concerning the trade in precious metals. 1850–1700 BC. Walters Museum (click on image for more info).

Tracing the Tarim mummies to the traditions associated with the veneration of the departed aatman, we find a remarkable parallel in Dholavira and Harappa of stone circles associated with death ceremonies. It is not unlikely that some of the mummies before they were mummies spoke Mleccha (Meluhha) language, not far from Kafiri (Nuristani) which was attested as a possible candidate by Frits Staal.(http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/03/a-new-start-for-vedic-and-ie-studies.html ) Sivalinga as pillars of fire, pillars of light (venerated in Atharvaveda Stambha Sukta) are also associated with stone circles in Dholavira and Sivalinga have been found in Harappa. If these lingas denoted Agni-Rudra by the fire-worshippers and philosophers of fire, the historical linguistic studies should include Mleccha (Meluhha) as the administrative, spoken language of the people in contact with the Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization area exemplified by Indian sprachbund to record in Indus Script Corpora, metalwork catalogues. Such a spoken form may explain the ams'u (Vedic) ~~ ancu (Tocharian) cognates to denote 'metal' (pace Georges Pinault). Vedic ams'u is a synonym, also a metaphor for Soma.

According to Louis Renou, the immense Rigvedic collection is present in nuce in the themes related toSoma. Rigveda mentions amśu as a synonym of soma. The possibility of a link with Indus writing corpora which is essentially a catalog of stone-, mineral-, metalware, cannot be ruled out.

George Pinault has found a cognate word in Tocharian, ancu which means 'iron'. I have argued in my book, Indian alchemy, soma in the Veda, that Soma was an allegory, 'electrum' (gold-silver compound). See:  http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2011/10/itihasa-and-eagle-narratives.html for Pinault's views on ancu, amśu concordance.

The link with the Tocharian word is intriguing because Soma was supposed to come from Mt. Mujavant. A cognate of Mujavant is Mustagh Ata of the Himalayan ranges in Kyrgystan.

Is it possible that the ancu of Tocharian from this mountain was indeed Soma?

The referemces to Anzu in ancient Mesopotamian tradition parallels the legends of śyena 'falcon' which is used in Vedic tradition of Soma yajña attested archaeologically in Uttarakhand with a śyenaciti, 'falcon-shaped' fire-altar.
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2011/11/syena-orthography.html śyena, orthography, Sasanian iconography. Continued use of Indus Script hieroglyphs.

Comparing the allegory of soma and the legend of Anzu, the bird which stole the tablets of destiny, I posit a hypothesis that the tablets of destiny are paralleled by the Indus writing corpora which constitute a veritable catalog of stone-, mineral- and metal-ware in the bronze age evolving from the chalcolithic phase of what constituted an 'industrial' revolution of ancient times creating ingots of metal alloys and weapons and tools using metal alloys which transformed the relation of communities with nature and resulted in the life-activities of lapidaries transforming into miners, smiths and traders of metal artefacts.

I suggest that ayas of bronze age created a revolutionary transformation in the lives of people of these bronze age times.


"The Tarim mummies are a series of mummies discovered in the Tarim Basin in present-day Xinjiang, China, which date from 1800 BCE to the first centuries BCE. Many centuries separate these mummies from the first attestation of the Tocharian languages in writing. A 2008 study by Jilin University that the Yuansha population has relatively close relationships with the modern populations of South Central Asia and Indus Valley, as well as with the ancient population of Chawuhu. (Mitochondrial DNA analysis of human remains from the Yuansha site in Xinjiang Science in China Series C: Life Sciences Volume 51, Number 3 / March, 2008).  The scientists extracted enough material to suggest the Tarim Basin was continually inhabited from 2000 BCE to 300 BCE and preliminary results indicate the people, rather than having a single origin, originated from Europe, Mesopotamia, Indus Valley and other regions yet to be determined.(Amanda Huang https://archive.today/bK4h)."
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/03/a-new-start-for-vedic-and-ie-studies.html 

"Buddhist missionaries possesed liturgical texts in what is known as Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit, a language originating in northern India...Whether from India or greater Iran, all of these languages were carried into the Tarim basin by religious communities or merchants from outside the region during the 1st millennium CE. A second group of languags are associated with documents that were not exclusively religious, but also adminsitrative. This may indicate that the languages were spoken by considerable numbers of the local population. Buddhists in the region of Kroran (Chinese Loulan), for example, employed an Indic language, Prakrit, in administration. Tocharian was used both to translate Buddhist texts and as an administrative language, which suggests that it was spoken by a wider range of people than exclusively monks. Another major language was Khotanese Saka, the language spoken in the south of the Tarim Basin at th site of Khotan as well as at northern sites suh as Tumshuq and Murtuq and possibly Qashgar, the western gateway into the Tarim Basin...And unlike Tocharian, which became extinct, there were small pockets of Saka speakers who survived in the Pamir Mountains...two main languages in the Tarim Basin that might be associated with at least some of the Tarim mummies of the Bronze Age and Iron Age: Khotanese Saka (or any other remnant of the Scythians or the Eurasian steppe) and Tocharian...Saka belongs to the eastern branch of the Iranian languages, which was one of he most widespread of the Indo-European family of languages spoken in most of Europe, Iran, India, and other parts of Asia...The sub-branch to which Saka belongs also included Sogdian, Bactrian and Avestan. Most archaeologists believe that the Iranian languages appeared earliest in the steppelands and only later moved southward through the agricultural oases of Central Asia into the region of modern Iran. The Iranian language group is very closely related to Indo-Aryan, the branch of Indo-European that occupies the northern two-thirds of India; these language groups presumably shared a common origin in the steppe region during the Bronze Age, perhaps about 2500 BCE." (Mallory, 2010, JP, Bronze Age languages of the Tarim Basin, Expedition, Volume 52, Number 3
http://www.penn.museum/documents/publications/expedition/pdfs/52-3/mallory.pdf pp.45-47)

Mallory goes on t provide select glosses comparing Saka with Tocharian B:

duva - wi (two)
drai - trai (three)
tcahora - s'twer (four)
hauda - sukt (seven)
sata - kante (hundre)
pate - pAcer (father)
mAta - mAcer (mother)
brAte - procer (brother)
ass- - yakwe (horse)
gguhi - keu (cow)
bar- - par- (bear, carry)
puls- - park- (ask)

In the Tarim Basin, in addition to Tocharian, administrative texts in Prakrit have been discovered; this is an Indian language from the terroritory of Kroran; the Kroranian documents date to ca. 300 CE providing the earliest evidence of spoken Tocharian.
Mallory continues: "From a linguistic point of view, we need to explain how languages from two major Indo-European language groups managed to spread into the Tarim Basin, and evaluate as far as possible whether they were the language spoken by those Bronze Age individuals whose remains were mummified...We also know that the Saka were known to the ancient Greeks as Scythians, and were clearly a people of the northern steppes, famous as horse-riding nomads who periodically challenged the civilizations to their south. They are attested in historical and archaeological sources from about the 8th century BCE...The one language group that is most clearly anchored in the Tarim, Tocharian, lacks any obvious external source..." (ibid., pp.49-50). 

The search is on to trace the movements from Andronovo or Afanasievo cultures, the way the search is on for the Urheimat of PIE. Based on what Nicholas Kazanas has pointed out and argued, the search for Urheimat for PIE may lie closer to the river basin where most of Rigveda was composed and chanted: Sarasvati River Basin. This river basin attests a spoken, administrative language: Mleccha (Meluhha) which may include many mispronunciations of reconstructed IE glosses and expressions and closely associated with the Prakrits which may also be termed Proto-Indo-Aryan. Tocharian speakers got isolated from the rest of the Indo-Europeans but had apparent trade contacts with the Rigvedic people for exchanges of Soma (ancu) from Mount Mujavant (Muztagh Ata) of the Tarim Basin as argued with the evidence of cognates (Soma syonym) ams'u~~ancu pointed out by Georges Pinault.


So, with Frits Staal, Mallory and Mair have to answer the question posed earlier, why Mleccha (Meluhha) could not be the candidate among the IE languages to explain Tocharian languages.

The concentric circles of timber posts found in Tarim Basin may also compare with concentric circles of stones found in Ukherda and Dholavira. See also polished stone pillars found in Dholavira and stone sivalinga found in Harappa.
Ukherda Burial GroundUkherda Burial GroundAncient graveyard, near Nakhtarna, Kutch: anthropomorphic menhirsUkherda Burial GroundUkherda Burial GroundUkherda burial ground, cemetery.Ukherda Burial Ground
Barrow Cemetery in IndiaNear Nakhtarana in Kutch, Gujarat, there is a large cemetery and cremation ground called Ukherda by the locals. There are also ancient hero and Sati stones. http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=26370

Circle of stones at Dholavira.



Remains of Circular hutments (?) joined in 8-shape with stone pillar fragments at the centre of each circle, close to the area where two polished stone pillars (sivalinga?) were found. Did these circular stone remnants, denote a smithy? In Kota language (Indian sprachbund, Mleccha-Meluhha) kole.l 'smithy, temple'.
Three stone Siva Lingas found in Harappa. Plate X [c] Lingam in situ in Trench Ai (MS Vats, 1940, Excavations at Harappa, Vol. II, Calcutta): ‘In the adjoining Trench Ai, 5 ft. 6 in. below the surface, was found a stone lingam [Since then I have found two stone lingams of a larger size from Trenches III and IV in this mound. Both of them are smoothed all over]. It measures 11 in. high and 7 3/8 in. diameter at the base and is rough all over.’ (Vol. I, pp. 51-52)."

Using stone slabs in cremation samskara in Vedic tradition is attested from the days of Rigveda. "When the body is almost consumed by the fire the chief mourner carries an earthen pot (the one in which fire was brought) filled with water on his shoulders and walks thrice round the burning pyre. A man walks with him piercing with a stone called the ashma or life-stone a hole in the jar out of which water spouts round the burning corpse. He finally throws the trickling water pot backwards over the shoulders spilling the water over the ground. Then, he pours libations of water mixed with sesamum on the ashma to cool the spirit of the dead which has been heated by the fire. The ashma is carefully preserved for ten days. The mourners also pour such water on the ashma. When the body is completely consumed, the party returns. During the first ten days, all closely related persons belonging to the family observe mourning called sutak." http://akola.nic.in/gazetteers/maharashtra/people_rituals.html As'ma is the symbolic stone of the departed aatman which is used during the samskara performances lasting upto 13 days after the cremation.  अश्म  1 [p = 114 , 1] ifc. for. 2 / अश्मन् , a stone Pa1n2. 5-4, 94th as'man  *= 2 %{A} m. (once %{azma4n} S3Br. iii), a stone, rock RV. &c.; a precious stone RV. v, 47, 3 S3Br. vi; any instrument made of stone (as a hammer &c.) RV. &c.; thunderbolt RV. &c.; a cloud Naigh.; the firmament RV. v, 30, 8; 56, 4; vii, 88, 2 [cf. Zd. {asman}; Pers. {as2ma1n}; Lith. {akmu}; Slav. {kamy}].

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/06/ancient-near-east-ziggurat-and-related.html

The salty sands and freeze-drying climate of the Tarim Basin, where the mummies were found, are highly conducive to preservation.  http://www.upenn.edu/gazette/0111/feature2_1.html

http://atlantisonline.smfforfree2.com/index.php?topic=14315.0

A Tarim Mummy and a reconstruction.
http://dienekes.blogspot.in/2011/05/on-tocharian-origins.html 

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/03/some-tarim-mummies-on-trade-caravans.html

Ērān ud Anērān Webfestschrift Marshak 2003

The Yuezhi Migration and Sogdia

Craig Benjamin

Introduction

Following the defeat of the formerly powerful Yuezhi confederation by the Xiongnu near Dunhuang in c.162 BCE, the Yuezhi dynasty and those tribes that remained loyal to it commenced a migration away from the Gansu that was destined to completely reshape the geopolitics of ancient Inner Asia. Both the Han Shu and Shi Ji provide evidence of their departure: "the Yuezhi had fled furious with the Xiongnu"1, the 'Yuezhi had fled and bore a constant grudge against the Xiongnu'2. The decision to migrate, despite still having a force of perhaps 100,000 armed archer warriors at their disposal is indicative of the severity of the defeat, and also of the steadily increasing power of the Xiongnu under Maodun and Jizhu during the preceding decades. The Yuezhi dynasty may in fact have considered such a move several times during the fourteen years between Maodun's initial raid against them in 176, and their ultimate defeat in 162.
Indeed, the fact that the migration seems to have been conducted in an orderly fashion suggests something of a planned strategic relocation rather than a rout. The Yuezhi's original intention was to move some 2000 kilometres to the northwest and resettle in the valley of the Ili River, a region occupied by a group of Sakas (or Scythians). They had no intention, nor any idea, that this journey would only be the first stage of a migration that ultimately would take them half away across Central Asia, until thirty years later they would find themselves in secure occupation of the fertile river valleys north of the Amu Darya, and masters of the former Greek kingdom of Bactria.
Leaving the Gansu in 162 the Yuezhi headed northwest towards the Ili Valley, settling near Ysyk Kul in present-day Kazakhstan. Corroborative evidence for this new location is provided by the Greek geographer Ptolemy who mentions a group called the Tagouraioi (clearly a variation on Tocharian, the Indo-European language spoken by the core Yuezhi) dwelling near Ysyk Kul3. Russian archaeologist Yu Zadneprovsky has noted a substantial number of podboy sites in the region, which he has tentatively identified as Yuezhi on the basis of their similarity to other podboy tombs discovered at the Haladun site near Minqin in the Central Gansu, which he also argues are Yuezhi. The Ysyk Kul region is rich in nomadic burial sites and some 370 tombs had been noted by as early as 1960. Of these, 80% were in pits, and attributed to the autonomous Sakas, and 17% in podboys, tentatively attributable to the Yuezhi4.
The Chinese sources show that the Ili/Ysyk Kul region was already populated by the Sai people, an eastern concentration of Sakas or Scythians ­who probably spoke an Indo-Iranian language. Upon arriving at the Ili, the Yuezhi quickly displaced them: (The Yuezhi) 'attacked the king of the Sai (who) moved a considerable distance to the south and the Yuezhi then occupied his lands'5. Most of the displaced Sakas subsequently undertook their own substantial migration, moving west and then south through the western Tarim Basin, crossing the so-called 'Suspended Crossing' (probably the Khunjerab Pass or similar, between present-day Xinjiang and northern Pakistan) before ultimately settling in Kashmir6.
The Yuezhi confederation occupied the former Sakan lands in the hope of permanently resettling there, and remained in residence for almost three decades. They no doubt felt they had successfully relocated, having escaped the Xiongnu menace and reestablished themselves in the fertile Ili Valley. They returned to their previous semi-nomadic, semi-sedentary lifeway and probably began to lose interest in Chinese/nomadic politics. But the Kunmo of the Wusun, the former neighbours of the Yuezhi in the Gansu, could not forget the ill treatment his people had suffered as a result of a Yuezhi attack upon them in 1737. Eventually he sought permission from his Xiongnu overlord (the new ShanyuJunchen, successor to Jizhu who had died in 158) to pursue the Yuezhi into the Ili and 'avenge his father's wrongs'8. In 132 BCE the Kunmo led a powerful force of mounted Wusun archers into the region which attacked and routed the no doubt surprised and dismayed Yuezhi, forcing them to once again uproot and resume their long march to the west.
The sources indicate that within a short space of time the Yuezhi passed through a region called Dayuan 'The Yuezhi thereupon went far away, passing Dayuan and proceeding west'9­ and then through a land to the southwest called Kangju. Although the exact route remains a matter of some conjecture, the evidence of both the Chinese annals, and of Russian and Central Asian archaeology, leaves little doubt that the Dayuan through which the migrating horde passed can only be identified with the Ferghana Valley10. The Yuezhi apparently met with little resistance from the urbanised Dayuans/Ferghanese, and after perhaps spending some months (the winter of 132/1?) in southwestern Ferghana, they passed on unmolested. Zadneprovsky has also noted several single podboy burials that have been unearthed in the southwestern, northern and eastern parts of the Ferghana Valley, most concentrated in the Lyailyaka-Isfara-Sokha interfluve in southern Kyrgyzstan where over 300 podboy burials have been located. Although originally attributed to a separate culture by Baruzdin in 1960, Zadneprovsky argues for their re-attribution to the migrating Yuezhi, on the basis of their similarity to podboy sites also tentatively attributable to the Yuezhi in both the Gansu and Ysyk Kul region11.
Perhaps in the spring of 131 BCE then, the Yuezhi most probably moved from Ferghana into the 'state' of Kangju, probably the Zeravshan Valley in the heart of Sogdia. Some four or five years later they were followed through the region by Han envoy Zhang Qian, who was led there by guides and interpreters provided for him by the king of Dayuan. It is references to Kangju in the Han Shu and Shi Ji (and by Ptolemy in his Geographica), as well as the discoveries of Soviet and Russian archaeologists, that has provided evidence identifying Kangju with Sogdia, and thus of the role of Sogdia in both the migration of the Yuezhi and the mission of Zhang Qian. The intention of this paper is to consider the origins of the relationship that developed between the Kangju and Yuezhi dynasties, a relationship that subsequently evolved to provide vital political and military stability in the region throughout the Kushan Era. The initial task is to consider evidence that allows for the conclusive identification of Kangju as Sogdia.

References to Kangju and the Yuezhi in the Han Annals

Kangju Sogdia: Location and Lifeway
Location
'The seat of the king's government in winter is in Leyuenidi to the town of Beitian. It is distant by 12,300 li from Xian. One reaches (Le)yuenidi after a journey of seven days on horseback, and it is a distance of 9,104 li within the realm to the king's summer residence. To the east it is a distance of 5,500 li to the Seat of the Protector General'12.

'It is said: Some 2000 li to the northwest from Kangju is the state of Yancai. The trained bowmen number 100,000. It has the same way of life as Kangju. It is situated on the Great Marsh, which has no further shore and which is presumably the Northern Sea'13.

'Kangju is situated some 2,000 li northwest of Dayuan. The country is small and borders Dayuan. It acknowledges nominal sovereignty to the Yuezhi people in the south and the Xiongnu in the east'14

'(Wusun) adjoins Kangju in the northwest'15

'(The State of Wusun) and 5000 li to the west, to land within the realm of Kangju'16
Attempts by scholars over several centuries to geographically locate and delineate Kangju have not been helped by textual corruption in both the Han Shu and Shi Ji. And yet, although several words and even whole sentences are missing, the information provided is still in the same order as that for the other 'western states', so that any gaps cannot be substantial. Certainly the distances between Xian and Beitian are not quite reconciled, and the distance from Beitian and the king's summer capital (9104 li or 3641 kms) is surely corrupt. Hulsewe and Loewe suggest that the text may originally have read 'ninety one li' (or 36 kilometres, although this seems too low),17 while Pelliot noted Wang Kuowei's suggestion of 1104 li (441 kms)18 which is a more viable figure within a country described as 'small'.
The identities of both Beitian and (Le)yueni(di) are almost impossible to determine, however, Wang Kuowei identified the former (impossibly) with Ysyk Kul19 while Pulleyblank has argued that the latter might 'represent some form of the name Jaxartes'20. The distance between Beitian and (Le)yueni(di) is described as 'seven days on horseback' in the Han Shu, which Hulsewe and Loewe suggest equals about 500 li i.e. marches of seventy lior 28 kilometres per day through the mountainous country of the region21. The identification of these two principal settlements with Samarkand and Bukhara is one obvious possibility, although the distance between the two cities by road is about 200 or so kilometres which does not reconcile with any of the given statistics.
Pulleyblank discusses the possible Tokharian philological origin of the name 'Kangju', in his reconstruction of 'Old Chinese' *khan-kiah. In the Tokharian vocabulary (Tokharian 1A) there is the word kank, which means 'stone'. Thus Kangju could mean the 'Stone Country', i.e. Samarkand (or equally Tashkend as 'Stone City')22. A.K. Narain offers a precise geographical location for Kangju: 'the northeastern wedge of modern Uzbekistan into Kirghiziya and Kazakhstan; the eastern part of this wedge formed part of Dayuan'23. This description, however, does not allow for the inclusion of any lands south of the Syr Darya, thus excluding the entire Zeravshan Valley, the cultural heart and population centre of Sogdia.
The information provided by the texts is hardly ambiguous, however, and clearly suggests the identification of the 'state' of Kangju with ancient Sogdia. Kangju is to the north of the Amu Darya and the Yuezhi's principal city of Jianshi (Khalchayan in the Surkhan Darya valley?); to the west and northwest of the Ferghana Valley (where it also apparently adjoined the clearly very substantial, post-132 realm of the Wusun); and southeast of the western realms of the Xiongnu (which must therefore have included the steppes of present-day Kazakhstan). Kangju incorporated lands on either side of the middle Syr Darya, particularly the densely occupied Zeravshan Valley south of the Syr Darya, and must surely have included Samarkand and Bukhara (as Shishkina also argues below). Hence, according to the textual evidence at least, Kangju can only convincingly be located within the general geographical region of ancient Sogdia.
Population/Size
Households: 120,000 Individuals: 600,00024
'The country is small'25
The physical dimensions of the Kangju realm may not have been vast, but the population was substantial, which allowed the ruling dynasty to maintain a formidable military force.
Military Strength
Persons able to bear arms: 120,00026
'They have 80,000 or 90,000 skilled archer warriors'27
'(it) is not subject to the Protector General'28
'In the east (the inhabitants) were constrained to serve the Xiongnu'29
'It acknowledges nominal sovereignty to (Zurcher translates as 'it is subservient to')30 the Yuezhi people in the south and the Xiongnu in the east'31
'However, Kangju felt that it was separated (from Han) by a long distance, and alone in its arrogance it was not willing to be considered on the same terms as the various other states'32
'(He Wudi - heard that) to the north, there were (people or places) such as the Da Yuezhi and Kangju, whose forces were strong; it would be possible to present them with gifts and hold out advantages with which to bring them to court'33
The Chinese were clearly impressed by the strength of Kangju, finding them arrogant and militarily self-confident. The military resources of Kangju (120,000 armed men, 80,000 - 90,000 of which were skilled and presumably mounted archers) were substantial, and would not easily be defeated by the Han. Presumably the ruling Kangju dynasty and its pastoralist allies provided the bulk of the mounted archer warriors, while the sedentised agriculturists of the river valleys could be relied upon to provide the remainder. Eschewing any military option then, Zhang Qian argued instead (in his report to Wudi) that the Kangjuans could be persuaded by Han gifts and favours to consider becoming subjects (or at least allies) of the Chinese. In short, Kangju was powerful and remote enough to resist Han attempts to join their tributary confederacy by military means, but was clearly under some sort of sovereignty obligation to both the Yuezhi and the Xiongnu.
Environment/Lifeways
'The way of life is identical with that of the Da Yuezhi'34
'Its people likewise are nomads and resemble the Yuezhi in their customs'35
'In Kangju there are five lesser kings all the five kings are subject to Kangju'36
The last reference clearly indicates that 'Kangju' should be considered both as the Han name of the 'state' (that is the realm or region) of Kangju/Sogdia, but also of the dominant faction or dynasty which was controlling that realm at the time (i.e. the Kangju dynasty). Shishkina agrees, and argues that geo-political changes in Sogdia that became apparent towards the end of the second century BCE must have been as a result of Kangju hegemony:
'The historical situation of the first century BC suggests that these changes were related to the spread of the power of the Kangju, when this dynasty controlled Samarkand and Bukhara'37
The five lesser kings noted in the Han Shu were probably subordinate tribal groups within the realm of 'greater Kangju', and given that all are listed as having specific 'seats of government' (different to the two principal settlements named as belonging to the Kangju proper), may represent sedentised, agrarian-based 'peoples' living under Kangju hegemony38
The way of life of the dominant Kangju faction was probably that of semi-nomadic militarised pastoral nomadism, similar to the assessment of the lifeway of the Yuezhi soon after their arrival north of the Amu Darya that Zhang Qian provided to the Han court. If the Kangju state is thus to be identified with ancient Sogdia under Kangju dynastic hegemony, then a brief account of Sogdian history prior to the arrival of the Yuezhi is required to identify the probable date of the establishment of Kangju power, and also to clarify the archaeological and textual evidence of subsequent Yuezhi/Kangju interaction.

Sogdian Historical Framework Prior to the Arrival of the Yuezhi

Between 553 and 550 BCE, Cyrus II (r. 559-529), a leader of the Persian Achaemenid family, overthrew Astyages, King of the Medes, and brought Mesopotamia, Parthia and Anatolia under his control. By 539 he had conquered Bactria and much of Sogdia as well, where he established a line of fortresses on the Syr Darya. Sogdia was made the thirteenth satrapy of the Achaemenids, and paid tribute to Cyrus' successors. The oldest layers of Afrasiab, the ancient site of Samarkand, date from this Achaemenid period. But, whilst the city states of Sogdia and Bactria gained considerably through their incorporation into the Achaemenid Empire, they remained intent upon regaining their independence, which parts of Sogdia may have done by c. 400 BCE39
Some two centuries after Cyrus' death, Alexander of Macedon reconquered much of Central Asia, following his arrival in Bactria in 329 BCE. Alexander's principal opponent in the region was the Achaemenid ruler Darius' former satrap, Bessus, who had Darius murdered in modern-day Shahr-I Qumis before proclaiming himself as his successor. Bessus' troops consisted of armoured cavalry from Bactria and Sogdia, which, following their defeat at Gaugemela, he took back across the Amu Darya after destroying its bridges. Alexander led his troops on forced marches through the desert, crossed the Amu Darya on inflated hide rafts, and confronted his opponents who immediately sued for peace.
Bessus was executed; the Macedonians installed themselves in the satrapal palace at Maracanda (Samarkand) and Sogdia, following some seventy years of independence, found itself incorporated into the new Macedonian Empire. But while Alexander campaigned further north along the Syr Darya, the Sogdians, under the leadership of Spitamenes, rose in his rear and massacred a garrison of Macedonians, inflicting arguably the worst defeat of Alexander's career40. Over the course of the ensuing eighteen months Alexander gained his revenge by reducing the fortified towns of Sogdia one by one, starting in the Hissar Mountains and moving along the Zaravshan Valley41.
At the heart of ancient Soghd were the valleys of the Zeravshan and Kashkadarya, and in his vengeful campaign along these densely occupied valleys the Macedonians may have killed up to 120,000 Sogdians42.
Amongst the many prisoners captured during the Sogdian campaign was the Princess Roxanne, daughter of another Sogdian opponent, Oxyartes. Alexander's subsequent decision to marry Roxanne was due partly to her exceptional beauty, but was also intended as a gesture to appease the rebellious Sogdians. After Alexander's death in Babylon in 323, Bactria and Sogdia immediately rebelled but were reconquered in c. 305 by his successor Seleucus Nicator (r. 311-281 BCE). However under Seleucus' son Antiochus I (r. 281-261), Bactria and (probably) Sogdia broke away again from Seleucid hegemony. None the less, Sogdia, along with much of Central Asia, was brought into the orbit of Hellenistic influence during its brief period of Macedonian conquest.
Antiochus I minted an extensive local coinage in the region, probably at Balkh (the 'capital' of Bactria). These were coins of large denominations: staters, tetradrachms and drachms. During the last two centuries before the Common Era, several series of diverse denominations and types were struck at Sogdian mints, and coins were widely used in Sogdia and Bactria, although perhaps only by the Greek population43
None the less the native population of Sogdia became used to Greek coinage during the Seleucid period, and when the inflow of Greek coins stopped following their independence from Antiochus I, local rulers began to mint their own. As Nymark has pointed out, however, these local issues were highly debased, and in fact were 'mere imitations of the most widespread Greek coins'44.
Yet these imitations remain as crucial (and often the only) evidence of political, economic and social developments in Sogdia during the first century BCE. Furthermore, both Sogdian and Bactrian imitation issues also constitute potential evidence for the Yuezhi during the 'five-yabghu period'.
In the mid-third century (c. 250) the Seleucid Governor of Bactria, Diodotus, established an independent Graeco-Bactrian kingdom, which may also have exercised a degree of control over Sogdia. In c. 230 Diodotus' son was overthrown by one of his satraps, a Greek settler called Euthydemus, who then ruled Graeco-Bactria for about forty years until c. 190 BCE. If Sogdia was indeed part of the incipient Graeco-Bactrian state, then the evidence of the Euthydemus imitation coinage indicates that some time late in the third century, during the lifetime of Euthydemus, Sogdia became an independent entity once more45.
Euthydemus concluded a peace treaty with the Seleucid ruler Antiochus III in 206, but did not attempt to reconquer Sogdia. Instead the Graeco-Bactrians expanded south into India, establishing the Indo-Greek kingdoms. If the 'state' of Kangju is indeed to be identified as Sogdia, then it was during this period of post-Seleucid independence, i.e. from c. 210 BCE, that the region came under the hegemony of the Kangju dynasty, which then continued to rule an independent Sogdia until it came under Kushan political influence early in the first century CE. As Bopearachchi concludes, under the Kangju dynasty 'Sogdiana probably remained free at least until the arrival of the Yuezhi in c. 130 BC'46.

The Passage of the Yuezhi through Kangju/Sogdia

Although neither of the Chinese sources categorically states that the Yuezhi horde passed through Kangju, the only logical inference to be drawn from the texts is that they did. In addition, Ptolemy continued to unknowingly chart the course of the Yuezhi migration by noting a group he this time called the Tachoroi (surely another variant of Tocharian) dwelling in Sogdia47.
The conclusion that the Yuezhi must have passed through the region is further strengthened by the fact that the Han sources do unequivocally show that Zhang Qian passed through Kangju during his search for the Yuezhi. The Han envoy was obviously well informed by the rulers of Dayuan as to the route followed by the Yuezhi who provided him with guides to lead him to the Yuezhi, unless they knew the migrants' route and probable whereabouts? And thus is likely to have followed closely in the original footsteps of his quarry. The chronology is straightforward enough.
C. 132/1 BCE: The Yuezhi depart Dayuan and continue their migration to the west
That the Yuezhi continued westwards in their migration following their passage through (and possibly winter residency in) Dayuan is implicit in the key Han Shu passage: 'passing Dayuan (and) proceeding west to subjugate Daxia'48.
There are three feasible route options west from Ferghana, whether starting from present-day Kukon in the centre of the valley, or Isfara in the southwest. The first is due north and then west, across the 2267 metre Kamcik Pass and through Angren into Tashkent, thence southwest to Samarkand. A second and more direct route is due west through present-day Chugand and Zizzach, thence southwest into Samarkand. However, given that the Zeravshan Valley was the agricultural and population heartland of Sogdia/Kangju (information probably given to the Yuezhi by the rulers of Dayuan who were no doubt anxious to encourage the Yuezhi to move on and seek suitable settlement lands elsewhere), the migrating horde may have chosen to follow a third route option from Chugand, south over the 3378 metre Sahristan Pass, then down into the upper Zeravshan Valley. If the Yuezhi leadership decided upon this latter route, then it would indeed have been necessary for them to winter in southern Ferghana before attempting the crossing of this high pass in the spring.
The Shi Ji also implies this in noting (in Watson's translation) that the Yuezhi 'moved far to the west, beyond Dayuan'49, which Zurcher reads as: 'They passed through Dayuan and to the west of thatcountry'50. Between Dayuan and Daxia (Bactria) lay only Kangju/Sogdia; anyone moving to the west, beyond Dayuan (or to the west of that country) and heading for northern Bactria would have to have passed through Sogdia. This probability is then strengthened by the unambiguous statement that Zhang Qian was taken to Kangju by his Dayuan guides and interpreters, and from there proceeded directly to the realm of the Da Yuezhi in northern Bactria.
129/128 BCE: Zhang Qian also passes through Kangju
The Han Shu notes that:
'(the king of Dayuan) sent off (Zhang) Qian, providing him with interpreters and guides. He reached Kangju who passed him on to the Da Yuezhi'51.
Or as Sima Qian puts it:
'The king of Dayuan trusted his words and sent him on his way, giving him guides and interpreters to take him to the state of Kangju. From there he was able to make his way to the land of the Great Yuezhi'52.
Despite its obvious military strength, Kangju (like Dayuan) also apparently facilitated (or at least did not hinder) the passage through its territory of both the migrating Yuezhi horde in c. 131 and the Han envoy in c. 128 BCE. Given the size of its military resources, Kangju was powerful enough to be not 'easily defeated by Han forces',53 although it was 'constrained to serve the Xiongnu' in the east,54 and (later) would acknowledge 'nominal sovereignty' (or even become 'subservient to') the Yuezhi in the south'55.
Does this acknowledgement suggest that parts of Sogdia (and the most populous parts at the Zeravshan valley and Samarkand) were actually invaded and defeated by the migrating Yuezhi, and then forced into a subordinate relationship thereafter? Certainly Torday is prepared to argue that not only did the Yuezhi defeat the Kangju dynasty in Sogdia, but in northern Bactria as well where he suggests the Kangju were also ruling:
'We must accept that they took the region from the Kangju by force, in a war. His (the Yuezhi king's) subsequent conquest of Sogdiana was probably a by-product of his ambitions further south-east where he had brought Daxia under his sway'56.
If Torday is correct, this says much about the military capabilities of the migrants that a displaced, previously fragmented and essentially homeless nomadic tribal confederation, soundly defeated twice during the previous three decades by the Xiongnu and the Wusun, was none the less able to invade and defeat the well-defended state of independent Kangju Sogdia. But there is simply no evidence to support Torday's reconstruction, and indeed his argument is unconvincing. He has the Yuezhi settling in the Jaxartes (Syr Darya) delta rather than northern Bactria at the end of their migration, which is clearly incorrect as textual and archaeological evidence indicates. He then suggests that the Yuezhi defeated the Kangju dynasty to gain control of Bactria, where the evidence shows it was a group of Sakas (who had established hegemony over those regions of Bactria to both the north and south of the Amu Darya) that the Yuezhi were forced to defeat and evict to gain control of the region.
Ultimately there is no suggestion (other than the mention of 'nominal sovereignty') that the Yuezhi were ever forced to confront the Kangju militarily. If there had been any need for conflict, then given the subsequent history of the region (including the invasion of Sogdia by the Karakhanid Dynasty in the 11th Century, for example), the acceptance of Yuezhi suzerainty by Kangju should more accurately be seen as an example of an all-too-familiar phenomenon in Central Asian history, and the greater military power of pastoral nomadic states over semi-sedentary, irrigation-based city states, whatever the relative size of their forces. Despite the fact that the ruling dynasty of Kangju was probably of a militarised, semi-nomadic ancestry, the bulk of the population was surely sedentised agriculturists.
The evidence might alternatively be interpreted as suggesting that Kangju (both the state and the dynasty) adopted a conciliatory and diplomatic position towards most of its neighbours, even including the migrating Yuezhi horde. Kangju acknowledged nominal sovereignty (or was subservient) to both the Xiongnu and the Yuezhi; they also assisted the Chinese by helping (or at least not impeding) Zhang Qian in his attempt to locate the Yuezhi and subsequently even sent a 'royal' son as envoy to the Han Court during the reign of Emperor Zheng. Undoubtedly, like the Wusun, Kangju felt that the Han court was remote and refused to become subject to the Protector General, but the dynasty was careful to offend no one ­ Han, Xiongnu or Yuezhi. It is therefore more likely that the Kangju rulers of Sogdia agreed to allow the Yuezhi unmolested passage through their territory, and accepted some form of subservient relationship thereafter to avoid military conflict.
It is not at all necessary to envisage violent military confrontation between the two dynasties, but rather a situation where local rulers recognised that the Yuezhi were powerful enough to be worth accepting as symbolic overlords. Certainly the later Mongol invasions would show that where cities made peace with the migrating, invading force without offering resistance, they could survive and prosper under the rule of pastoralist conquerors, whereas those who refused were destroyed utterly. The apparent ease with which the Yuezhi subjugated Bactria (just to the south of and contiguous to Sogdia) a year or so later may also have been a salutary reminder to the Kangju dynasty. And, just as the Dayuans might have suggested the Zeravshan Valley in Sogdia as a possible resettlement location for the migrants, the rulers of Sogdia could in turn have nominated the fertile valleys north of the Amu Darya in northern Bactria for the Yuezhi to relocate, thus discouraging any thoughts the latter might have entertained of remaining in Sogdia itself.
The careful relationship established between the two dynasties in c.131 BCE became an enduring one. Kangju Sogdia would be drawn further and further into the Yuezhi/Kushan sphere of influence over the following centuries until substantial portions of its territory may have been incorporated into the Kushan Empire (although this is by no means certain). Certainly, according to the Hou Han Shu, by 83 CE the Kushans were happy to further cement this relationship through an alliance based on a 'bond of royal marriage' with the ruling family of Kangju57. Even as early as the last three decades of the second century BCE Kangju proved to be an ideal buffer for the Yuezhi between their new homeland north of the Amu Darya, and the Wusun and Xiongnu to the north and east.
The Kangjuans (or at least some elements of the Sogdian populace) also apparently acknowledged sovereignty to the Xiongnu in the east (presumably northeast),58 indicating the astonishing reach of Xiongnu influence. This is confirmed by the Han Shu inclusion of a statement in Zhang Qian's description of the 'state' of Dayuan that '(the area) west of Wusun as far as Anxi is close to the Xiongnu'59. That is, Xiongnu influence apparently reached from the steppes of eastern Mongolia to as far west as Parthia. Even allowing for possible Han exaggeration or misinformation, this means that the Xiongnu were in seasonal occupation of (or at least exercised some form of nominal hegemony over) a very substantial western realm indeed, including the steppelands of present-day Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, from Lake Balkash to the Aral Sea.
It is also possible that this 'nominal sovereignty' took the ambiguous form of gift-giving, which the Xiongnu and Chinese sources interpreted as subordination, but which the locals (including the ruling dynasties of Dayuan and Kangju) understood merely as diplomatic courtesies. There is little or no evidence that the Xiongnu actively exercised military power further to the west, although they may have occupied temporary sites along the Middle Syr Darya, if the archaeological evidence of a burial mound at Zhaman-Togai attributed to the Xiongnu by the tomb's Soviet discoverers in 1968 is accepted60. Torday is prepared to read this acknowledgment of nominal sovereignty as proof of Xiongnu military subjugation of Kangju, and even attempts to date the beginning of that subjugation from early in the reign of Maodun. He finds the Han Shu passage evidence of 'Kangju's humiliation by Xiongnu in the east', and links this humiliating defeat to a steppe battle conducted by Maodun at Zaysan Nor in 203 BCE61. Torday's reconstruction is imaginative but there is simply no evidence to support it. In the hope of corroborating the textual suggestions of Yuezhi/Kangju interaction, one must turn to a consideration of archaeological evidence.

Archaeological Evidence of the Yuezhi in Kangju/Sogdia

Introduction and History
The textual references thus strongly imply that during the latter stages of their migration the Yuezhi horde probably passed through some regions of the 'state' of Kangju Sogdia. However, as is the case with most aspects of Yuezhi history, archaeological confirmation of this apparent course of textually-attested events is hardly overwhelming. The most likely location for the discovery of material evidence would surely be somewhere in the valley of the Zeravshan River, which has its source between the Turkestan and Zeravshan ranges in Tajikistan, and then flows west through Samarkand and out into the deserts of Uzbekistan. In ancient times the valley was fertile and sheltered, providing excellent conditions for early Bronze Age agrarian settlements. The discovery in 1976 of the Bronze Age settlement of Sarazm on the upper reaches of the river showed that the valley had been settled for thousands of years, perhaps since as early as the mid-4th Millennium BCE62.
Archaeological investigation of the middle and lower Zeravshan Valley commenced in 1940 with a survey carried out on the construction site of the Katta-Kurgan reservoir, halfway between Samarkand and Bukhara, which resulted in the discovery of Sogdian burial mounds of the 'Kushan period'63. Between 1945 and 1949 Terenozhkin conducted systematic research in the immense town site of ancient Samarkand, Afrasiab64. This was followed by expeditions from the Uzbek Branch of the Soviet Academy of Sciences in the late 50s and early 60s, which thoroughly investigated a series of sites around Samarkand65. In 1946, meanwhile, the Academy of Sciences of the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic began investigating the upper reaches of the Zeravshan, east of Samarkand, which, under the direction of Yakubovsky, laid the ground work for a systematic archaeological survey of the entire length of the upper regions of the valley66. Yakubovsky's preliminary work was carried on through the 1960s by Mandleshtam in particular, who discovered numerous burial mounds and settlements, many of them apparently left by migrating nomadic groups during the early Kushan era (as Soviet archaeologists tended to label the period between the second century BCE and the late second/early third century CE)67. However, within this broad and general chronology the attribution of particular types of burial structures and fortified settlements to specific groups of pastoral nomads was again very difficult. Mandleshtam was the first to attempt to narrow the search down somewhat in his address to the 1968 conference on the Kushans in Dushanbe:
'The dating of the investigated monuments (which is substantiated by the results of recent excavations of town-sites) enables us to state with certainty that they belonged to the nomads, who in the last third of the second century BC destroyed the Graeco-Bactrian Empire. Archaeology reveals four groups of nomads, which probably relate to four different tribes'68.
Obelchenko, however, who from 1952 onwards carried out large-scale excavations of nomadic burial mounds in the middle and lower Zeravshan, particularly around Bukhara, linked all of the funerary monuments discovered in the Zeravshan to an invasion of 'Sarmatian' tribes in the second to first centuries BCE69. Gorbunova has summarised Obelchenko's mid-50s theory thus:
'The discovery and investigation of Sogdian pastoralists' sites were begun by O.V. Obelchenko. He isolated among the cemeteries an earlier group dating from the second century BC to the first century AD, and a later group dating from the second to the fourth centuries AD. He regards both sites as relics of the Sarmatian tribes whose attacks contributed to the final defeat of Graeco-Bactria'70.
Obelchenko's conclusions were questioned by Mandleshtam, who argued that the attribution of all of the mounds as Sarmatian was too generalised and superficial, particularly as various groups of burials displayed quite distinctively different characteristics.
'The culture of all of them (the burial mounds) exhibits traits resembling the culture of the Sarmat tribes, but this is mainly a 'temporal' resemblance, which is observed over a vast area. A more concrete comparison points to links with areas to the N and NE of Central Asia'71.
Zadneprovsky also disagrees with Obolchenko,72 and has argued that similarities between possible Yuezhi tombs in northern Bactria and those discovered in the Bukharan oasis by Obelchenko suggest that the latter are also relics of the passage of the Yuezhi through Sogdia: 'The coincidence of the design, funeral ceremony and the accompanying inventory definitely point to their similarity'73.

Artifacts from Nomadic Tombs in Ferghana and Sogdia

However, even a detailed analysis of the 'accompanying inventory' of grave goods discovered at the various nomadic tomb sites does not clarify the matter74. Pottery vessels (including censers) occur in all types of graves, as would be expected. Gorbunova argues that 'they have a strictly local character, originating in the pottery centres nearest to the cattle-breeding people's area of habitation, or being diffused only over the local area'75. Thus jugs (with and without handles) are common to the whole region, although they vary in shape from one location to the next. Bactrian and Sogdian jugs and goblets were almost all fashioned on a potter's wheel, which differentiates them from Khorezmian ceramics, for example.
Weapons have also been discovered in most nomadic cemeteries throughout former Soviet Central Asia, including swords, daggers, iron arrowheads and fragments from composite bows, all weapons generally associated with militarised nomads. Swords and daggers with a cross hilt are characteristic of both the Sogdian and Bactrian sites, whereas the majority of swords from other areas (i.e. areas probably not visited by the migrating Yuezhi) do not have cross-hilts, thus allowing for possible identification of the unique Sogdian and Bactrian examples as Yuezhi. Also characteristic of Bactrian and early Sogdian sites are arrowheads with barbed triangular flanges, which differ markedly from the triangular-flanged, straight-based arrowheads found in Khorezmia, Turkmenia and at Kaunchi culture sites (near Tashkent). The graves of Ferghana, emphasising that region's role throughout the Bronze and Iron Ages as an obvious funnel for all manner of Eurasian nomads, contain arrowheads of almost every type76. The arrowheads discovered at early Kushan sites in Sogdia are similar to those found at Begram in Bactria, thus dating them to the 'late-Yuezhi/early Kushan period'77.
Household objects, including knives, spindle-whorls and a variety of toilet-articles also demonstrate considerable local variation. Bronze mirrors have been found at sites all over former Soviet Central Asia, with Khorezmia, Sogdia and Bactria yielding mirrors of a similar so-called 'Sarmatian' type, and Ferghana again yielding the largest number and greatest variety of examples78.
Belt buckles have also been found in extensive numbers, indicating that most pastoral nomads probably wore belts with buckles. Differentiation of buckle types is also a potential source of tomb identification. The link between Sogdian and Bactrian sites is again apparent ­ Gorbunova notes that 'belt buckles from Bactrian and early Sogdian cemeteries are obviously of the same kind, and differ from the buckles of other places'79. The nomadic cultures associated with the different tomb types thus display a series of distinctive individual traits through their material possessions, but also a range of other features commonly shared between all nomadic 'peoples', which increases the difficulties of definitive attribution. Undeniably there is substantial evidence of nomadic passage along (and even temporary occupation of) various sites in the Zeravshan Valley, and it remains a matter of ongoing interpretation as to which tombs and funerary objects (if any) might be convincingly identifiable as Yuezhi.
Shishkina argues, perhaps too dismissively, that there is no evidence whatsoever of Yuezhi influence, although his conclusion that the densely populated Zeravshan valley proved ultimately unsuitable as a possible relocation site for the nomads is self-evidently correct:
'In the second century BC the area between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya was the object of a massive invasion by peoples of a foreign culture, of which tribes of the Great Yuezhi made up a considerable part. Nevertheless the character of the Hellenized culture was preserved and there are no traces of new influences. One may assume that (the Yuezhi) passed through the Zeravshan Valley peacefully and did not remain there for long. There certainly would not have been enough room on the densely populated and cultivated lands of Soghd for masses of migratory peoples'80.
Shishkina's claim that there is 'no trace' of the passage of the nomads obviously takes no account of Zadneprovsky's argument that significant numbers of podboy tomb types, similar in style and design to those found in other areas of probable Yuezhi occupation (the Gansu, Ysyk Kul and Ferghana), have also been unearthed along the Zeravshan. Furthermore, in addition to the similarity of tomb-type, many of the artifacts discovered in podboy tombs also display a range of common features, particularly those found in tombs in Sogdia and Bactria; Gorbunova notes similarities between 'Bactrian and early Sogdian cemeteries with their distinctive types of pottery, weapons, belt buckles and women's clothing'81. Whilst it is clearly impossible to prove that these tombs and their artifacts were left along the Zeravshan by the migrating Yuezhi, there is certainly sufficient evidence to at least entertain the possibility.

'Sogdian' Statuettes

Further archaeological evidence of Yuezhi activity in Sogdia might be provided by the attribution of a particular sub-group of Sogdian statuettes unearthed at several sites in and around Samarkand, particularly at Tali Barzu south of the city, and also at Afrasiab. A form type of female statuette discovered at these (and other nearby) sites, characterised by the position of the hands under the breasts or resting on the upper stomach, and with distinctive facial features and dress, has been analysed by Fiona Kidd of Sydney University82. The primary focus group of figurines is distinct and stable in form ­ a female figure with small protruding breasts and very slim arms bent sharply at the elbows so that her hands are resting on her upper stomach. Related groups include statuettes with stumps instead of arms, or with arms resting on the lower rather than upper stomach. The three groups are united by their similar style of facial features. As a stylistic form, similar examples are known from Mesopotamia at least as early as the 2nd Millennium BCE, although it has been suggested that the form probably dates much further back into antiquity83.
Where there might be some (admittedly very tenuous) link between a particular sub-type of these figurines and the Yuezhi is through a comparative coroplastic analysis of costume styles. Examples from the Samarkand area show a variety of clothing styles ­ pleats on the lower part of the dress; a looser dress worn over long trousers with folds falling from the waist; a long pleated dress with pleats falling from the waist; or with pleats falling all the way from the shoulders84. Abdullaev has tentatively attributed one particular group of figurines clothed in a long dress with a flared lower half to the Yuezhi during their interim residency of the Zeravshan Valley85. The identification is somewhat strengthened by the discovery of similarly attired figurines at other Yuezhi and early Kushan sites, notably Tillya-tepe and Dalverzin-tepe86.
Sogdia lay at the heart of a network of ancient migration and trade routes, and it is only to be expected that Sogdian art would be subjected to a range of stylistic influences, including those of pastoral nomads, be they steppe- or oasis-dwellers. Kidd argues that 'the nomadic legacy of the peoples living in this region must also be recognised as an important factor in the formation of style in Sogdian art generally'87. That the Yuezhi occupied, if only for a relatively brief period, parts of the Zeravshan valley including the greater Samarkand oasis is more than likely, given the cumulative textual and archaeological evidence considered above. The possibility that further evidence of their residency might be found through a coroplastic analysis of the costume of figurines unearthed at probable Yuezhi sites in the region is thus also worthy of consideration.

Archaeological Evidence: Conclusion

Archaeological evidence for the migrating Yuezhi confederation in both Sogdia and Ferghana is at best inconclusive. Mass migrations of nomadic 'peoples' would hardly be expected to leave a substantial archaeological record anyway, given that they generally did not construct settlements or 'townships' meant to last longer than a winter season. During the long, cold Central Asian winters the dead would be buried beside the encampments, and in the spring the tribes would move on in search of new dwelling places. This would surely have been the lifeway of the Yuezhi during the short period of forced migration following their eviction from the Ili Basin in c. 133/2 and preceding their arrival in northern Bactria in c. 130 BCE. Thus the only record of their passage through the Ferghana and Zeravshan valleys would be their funerary monuments and the grave goods they contained. The incidence of podboy tombs in both regions (mostly with a common north-south orientation), the similarity of household objects, weapons, arrowheads and belt buckles in those tombs, and the possible evidence of Sogdian statuettes, provides clearly circumstantial but arguably cumulatively convincing evidence that there does indeed exist a material record of the passage of the Yuezhi. Textual and archaeological evidence thus allows for the following tentative narrative reconstruction of events.

Conclusion and Summary

As a result of their defeat by the Wusun in 133/2 BCE, and after almost three decades of residency in the Ili Valley, the confederation of the Da Yuezhi was forced to resume its migration westwards, moving initially into the Ferghana Valley. Here they may have briefly occupied sites in the Isfara region before continuing their journey (in the spring of 132/1?), travelling west and south into the Zeravshan valley of Sogdia, before perhaps following it into the Samarkand and Bukharan oases. This itinerary is implied by several references in the Han Shu and Shi Ji, and also tentatively reinforced by Russian and Central Asian archaeology.
In the penultimate stage of their journey the Yuezhi horde entered the realm of Kangju, a dynasty in control of a region most probably identifiable as Sogdia and the Zeravshan Valley. 'Kangju' was the Han name for both the 'state' and the powerful ruling dynasty, which may have been in control of Sogdia since it gained independence from the Graeco-Bactrians late in the third century BCE, during the reign of Euthydemus. Ptolemy provides incidental evidence of the identification of Kangju with Sogdia, and once again continued to unknowingly chart the course of the Yuezhi migration by noting a group he this time called the Tachoroi (Tocharians) dwelling in Sogdia88.
Archaeologists have unearthed podboy tombs potentially attributable to the Yuezhi at the periphery of the Bukharan and Samarkand oases, as well as in the upper valley of the Zeravshan. All are similar in design, funeral ceremony and 'accompanying inventory' of artifacts to other possible Yuezhi podboy monuments found in northern Bactria89. In addition, the coroplastic analysis of a group of Sogdian statuettes, might eventually provide supporting evidence of brief Yuezhi occupation.
Both the Han Shu and Shi Ji suggest some level of diplomatic interaction between the Yuezhi and Kangju dynasties prior to the Yuezhi's arrival in northern Bactria90. Although Kangju is described as a 'small' country in the Chinese sources, its military strength was substantial, with some 120,000 persons able to bear arms, according to Ban Gu,91 of which 90,000 were skilled archer warriors according to Sima Qian92. Unlike Dayuan, it was described as powerful enough to be 'not easily defeated by Han forces',93 but none the less was 'constrained to serve the Xiongnu' in the east,94 and acknowledged 'nominal sovereignty' (or was 'subservient to') the Yuezhi in the south'95.
Kangju displayed obvious ability at inter-state diplomacy by balancing these competing (and essentially opposed) interests ­ recognising the nominal sovereignty over parts of its country by both the Xiongnu and the Yuezhi, aiding Zhang Qian and subsequent Han envoys, and later sending a Kangju prince as envoy to China. It is therefore probable that the rulers of Kangju agreed to give the Yuezhi safe passage through their territory, and accepted some form of subservient relationship to avoid military conflict. The Sogdian dynasty may even have encouraged the Yuezhi to settle at the southern extremities of their territory, and suggested the fertile river valleys north of the Amu Darya as an ideal homeland for the migrants.
Eventually Kangju would be drawn further and further into the Yuezhi/Kushan realm over the following decades and centuries until the southern portions of its territory were probably incorporated into the Kushan Empire, or at least into its sphere of influence96. By 83 CE the Kushans would further cement this relationship through an alliance based on a 'bond of royal marriage' with the ruling family of Kangju97. Kangju/Sogdia thus proved to be an ideal buffer for the Yuezhi between their new northern Bactria homeland and the Wusun and Xiongnu realms in the steppes to the north and east. Ultimately, as a result of the generally cooperative relationship apparently established almost immediately between the Kangju and Yuezhi dynasties in c. 131 BCE, Sogdia went on to become an integral and stable member (through direct incorporation or alliance) of the greater Kushan sphere of influence until the dissolution of the Kushan Empire in the mid-third century of the Common Era.
Craig Benjamin

March 2003

Dr. Craig Benjamin is a Lecturer in History at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. He can be contacted at: craigbenjamin[@]optusnet.com.au
1 HS 61 1B.
2 SJ 123. See B. Watson, Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian ­ Han Dynasty II (Revised edtn., Columbia University Press 1993) p. 231.
3 Ptol. Geog. vi, 14, 7-14. Hermann located Ptolemy's Tagouraioi to the north of the 'Alexandrovski Range', north of Ysyk Kul, in A. Hermann, Sakai col. 1770-1806', in Pauly Wissowa, Real-Encyclopadedie Der Classischen Alterumewissenschaft, 2e Reihe, Vol I (Stuttgart 1914).
4 Zadneprovsky (1999) op. cit., pp 4-5. See also J.P. Mallory and V.H. Mair The Tarim Mummies (London 2000) pp. 156 and 158.
5 HS 61 4B.
6 On the Hanging Pass see HS 96A 12A/12B; HS 96B 1B; H. Tsuchiya, 'Tracing Ancient Routes in Northern Pakistan', in M. Alram and D.E. Klimburg-Salter, Coins, Art and Chronology (Vienna 1999) pp. 353 ff.; A. Stein, Ancient Khotan (Oxford 1907) pp. 1-46.
7 See HS 61 4B.
8 HS 61 4B.
9 HS 61 1A.
10 See A.K. Narain, The Tokharians (Shillong 2000) p. 36, n. 11 for example.
11 Y.A. Zadneprovsky, 'Migration Paths of the Yueh-chih based on Archaeological Evidence', Circle of Inner Asian Art Newsletter No. 8 (April 1999) p. 5.
12 HS 96A 15B.
13 HS 96 A 17A.
14 SJ 123, Watson p. 234.
15 HS 96B 1B.
16 Ibid.
17 A.F.P. Hulsewe and M.A.N. Loewe, China in Central Asia. The Early Stage: 125 B.C. ­ A.D. 23. An Annotated Translation of Chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty (Leiden 1979) p. 125, n. 299, 2.
18 P. Pelliot, 'L'Edition collective des oeuvres de Wang Kouo-wei', in T'oung Pao 26 (1929) p. 151.
19 See Ibid. p. 150.
20 E.G. Pulleyblank, 'The Consonontal System of Old Chinese', in Asia Major 9 (1962) p. 94; see also L. Torday, Mounted Archers: The Beginnings of Central Asian History (Durham 1997) p. 319 n. 34 for a detailed discussion of the philological link between Kangju and the Jaxartes (Syr Darya).
21 Hulsewe and Loewe op. cit., p. 125, n. 299, 2.
22 E.G. Pulleyblank, 'Chinese and Indo-Europeans', Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 2 (London 1966) p. 28.
23 Narain (2000) op. cit., pp. 29-30.
24 HS 96A 15B.
25 SJ 123, Watson p. 234.
26 HS 96A 15B.
27 SJ 123, Watson p. 234.
28 HS 96A 15B.
29 Ibid.
30 E. Zurcher, 'The Yueh-chih and Kaniska in the Chinese Sources', in A.L. Basham, ed., Papers on the Date of Kanishka (Leiden 1968) p. 360.
31 SJ 123, Watson p. 234.
32 HS 96A 16A.
33 HS 61 3A.
34 HS 96A 15B.
35 SJ 123, Watson p. 234.
36 HS 96A 17A.
37 G.V. Shishkina, 'Ancient Samarkand: Capital of Soghd', Bulletin of the Asia Institute 8 (1994) p. 90.
38 Hulsewe and Loewe, op. cit., pp. 130-1, ns. 320, 321, 322, 323 and 324 provide comments on attempts to identify the five principal towns of the lesser kings.
39 See R. Frye, The History of Ancient Iran (Munich 1984) p. 141.
40 Arrian, Book Four, 5-7 (1971) op. cit., pp. 208-211 for a description of this defeat.
41 See for example, A.B. Bosworth, Conquest and Empire: The Reign of Alexander the Great (Melbourne 1988) pp. 117, and 109-10.
42 See for example A. Nymark, Culture and Art of Ancient Uzbekistan vol.1 (Moscow 1991) p. 155.
43 See for example E. Rtveladze, The Ancient Coins of Central Asia (Tashkent 1987) p. 46.
44 Nymark op. cit., p. 156.
45 See O. Bopearachchi, 'The Euthydemus Imitation and the Date of Sogdian Independence', Silk Roads Art and Archaeology 2 (1991/2) pp. 11-12; also Rtveladze op. cit., p. 46.
46 Ibid., p. 12.
47 Ptol. Geog. vii, 2, 15; vi, 14, 7-14. See W.W. Tarn, The Greeks in Bactria and India (Cambridge 1938, 2nd edtn. 1951) p. 517; and J.W. McCrindle, Ancient India as Described by Ptolemy (London 1885) p. 281
48 HS 96A 15A.
49 SJ 123, Watson p. 234.
50 SJ 123.3b, trans. E. Zurcher (1968) op. cit., p. 360.
51 HS 61 2A.
52 SJ 123, Watson p. 232.
53 HS 61 3A.
54 HS 96A 15B.
55 HS 96A 15B; and Zurcher (1968) op. cit., p.360.
56 Torday op. cit., p. 301.
57 HHS 77.4a.
58 HS 96A 16A.
59 HS 96A 19A.
60 On the Zhaman-Togai Xiongnu tomb see A.G. Maximova, M.S. Merschiev, B.I. Vainberg, L.M. Levina, Drevnosti Chardary (Antiquities of Chardara) (Alma-Ata 1968) pp. 175-190.
61 Torday op. cit., pp. 301-2.
62 On Sarazm see A.I. Isakov, 'Sarazm: An Agricultural Centre of Ancient Sogdiana', Bulletin of the Asia Institute 8 (1994) pp. 1 ff.
63 See V.A. Shishkina, 'Arkheologicheskie nablyudeniya na stroitel' stve Katta-Kurganskogo vodokhranilishcha' (Archaeological Observations on the Building Site of the Katta-Kurgan Reservoir) Izvestiya Uzbfil AN SSSR ­ Bulletin of the Uzbek Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1940) No. 10, pp. 19-24.
64 See A.I. Terenozhkin, 'Sogd I Chach' (Soghd and Chach) KSIIMK 33 (1950) pp. 152-169; A.I. Terenozhkin, 'Roskopki na gorodishche Afrasiabe' (Excavations on the Site of Afrasiab) KSIIMK 36 (1951) pp. 136-140.
65 See V.I. Shishkina, 'Uzbekistanskaya arkheologicheskaya ekspeditsiya AN UzSSR' (The Uzbekistan Archaeological Expedition of the Uzbek Academy of Sciences. Field Work in 1956-1959), IMKUz(Tashkent 1961) pp. 36-43; V.I. Shishkina, Afrasiab ­ sokrovishchnitsa drevnei kultury (Afrasiab ­ Treasury of Ancient Culture) (Tashkent 1966) pp. 8-10.
66 See A.Y. Yakubovsky, 'Itogi rabot Sogdiiko-Tadzhikskoi arkheologicheskoi ekspeditsii v 1946-1947 gg' (Results of the Work of the Sogdian-Tajik Archaeological Expedition of 1946-1947) MIA SSR No. 15 (Moscow-Leningrad 1950) pp. 13-28.
67 See for example, A.M.Mandleshtam, 'Mogilnik v s. Zosun ­ verkhovya r. Zeravshan (The Burial Site in Zosun Village, Upper Zeravshan) Izvestia Otdelniya Obshchestvennykh nauk AN Tadzh. SSR No. 40 (1965) pp. 29-44.
68 A.M. Mandleshtam, 'Archaeological Data on the Origin and Early History of the Kushans', in Central Asia in the Kushan Period (1970) op. cit., p. 166.
69 See for example O.V. Obelchenko, 'Kuyu-Mazarsky mogil'nik' (The Necropolis of Kuyu-Mazar) Trudy IIA AN Uz. SSR VIII (Tashkent 1956) pp. 205-227; and O.V. Obelchenko, 'Kurgany okolo sel. Khazara' (The Kurgans Near the Village of Khazara) IMKUz (Tashkent 1963) pp. 57-65.
70 N.G. Gorbunova, 'Early Nomadic Pastoral Tribes in Soviet Central Asia during the First Half of the First Millennium A.D.', in G. Seamen, ed., Foundations of Empire: Archaeology and Art of the Eurasian Steppes (Los Angeles 1992) p. 34; and see O.V. Obelchenko, 'Kurgannye mogilniki epokhii Kushan v Bukharskom oazise' (Kurgan Barrows of the Kushan Epoch in the Bukhara Oasis), in Central Asia in the Kushan Period, vol I (Moscow 1974) for a summary of Obelchenko's conclusions.
71 Mandleshtam (1970) op. cit., p. 166.
72 Y.A. Zadneprovsky, History of Central Asian Nomads in the Kushan Period', in Kushan Studies in the U.S.S.R. (Moscow 1970) pp. 148-9.
73 Zadneprovsky (1999) op. cit., p. 5.
74 See Gorbunova (1992) op. cit., pp. 36 ff for a general outline of material artifacts discovered at a range of Central Asian sites.
75 Ibid., p. 36.
76 Ibid., p. 39; and see G. Frumkin, Archaeology in Soviet Central Asia (Leiden 1970) pp. 42 ff, for a detailed summary of Ferghana Valley archaeological discoveries, including grave artifacts.
77 See R. Ghirshman, Begram ­ Recherches Archeologiques et Historiques sur les Kouchans (Paris 1946), Plate XXXVI, Nos. BG 290 a and b for excellent photographs of the Begram arrowheads with barbed triangular flanges. At the British Museum in January 2001 Elizabeth Errington was good enough to show me a colour transparency of a similar arrowhead from the Charles Masson collection. See also E. Errington, 'Rediscovering the Collections of Charles Masson', in M. Alram and D.E. Klimburg-Salter, eds., Coins, Art and Chronology. Essays on the pre-Islamic History of the Indo-Iranian Borderlands(Vienna 1999) pp. 207ff.
78 See Gorbunova (1992) op. cit. p. 44, Fig. 5 for a map illustrating the 'Distribution of Mirror Types'.
79 Ibid., p. 41.
80 Shishkina op. cit., pp. 89-90.
81 Gorbunova op. cit., p. 42.
82 Fiona Kidd, 'The Chronology and Style of a Group of Sogdian Statuettes', in C. Benjamin and S. Lieu, eds., Walls and Frontiers in Inner Asian History, Silk Roads Studies VI (Turnhout 2002) pp. 197 ff.
83 P. Ucko, Anthropomorphic Figurines of Predynastic Egypt and Neolithic Crete with Comparative Material from the Prehistoric Near East and Mainland Greece (London 1968). See also M. Gimbutas,The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe (London 1982) for early examples of similar figurines.
84 Kidd op. cit., pp 197 ff.
85 K. Abdullaev, in R.K. Suleimanov, Drevnii Nakshab: Problemi' Tzivilizatzii Uzbekistana VII v. do N.E. (Tashkent 2000) p. 203.
86 On the Tillya-tepe figurines see V.I. Sarianidi, Khram I Nekropol' Tillyatepe (1989) p. 53 fig. 15 and p. 57 figs. 17, 25 and 70; on the Dalverzin-tepe figurines see K. Abdulaev, 'Portrayal of musicians in Bactrian teracotta figurines', in Information Bulletin 7 (1984) pp. 52-56 figs. 4-5.
87 Kidd op. cit., p. 211.
88 Ptol. Geog. vii, 2, 15; vi, 14, 7-14. See Tarn (1938/1951) op. cit, p. 517; and McCrindle (1885) op. cit., p. 281.
89 Zadneprovsky (1999) op. cit.,p. 5.
90 HS 96A 15B; SJ 123, Watson p. 232.
91 HS 96A 15B.
92 SJ 123, Watson p. 234.
93 HS 61 3A.
94 HS 96A 15B.
95 HS 96A 15B, and Zurcher op. cit.,p. 360.
96 Whether Sogdia/Kangju or Khorezmia were ever actually part of the Kushan Empire is a matter of some conjecture. See, for example, Svend Helms, 'Ancient Chorasmia: The Northern Edge of Central Asia from the 6th Century B.C. to the mid-4th Century A.D., in David Christian and Craig Benjamin (eds.), Worlds of the Silk Roads: Ancient and Modern (Turnhout 1998), pp. 85-6; and S. Helms (in private correspondence) who has argued that Khorezmia at least remained nominally independent.
97 HHS 77.4a.
http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/Articles/benjamin.html

S. Kalyanaraman
Sarasvati Research Center

June 24, 2015

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Independent existence for SIT demanded -- Dr. Subramanian Swamy writes to NaMo. NaMo, restitute kaalaadhan, the nation trusts you.

June 23, 2015, 8:34 pm
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Letter from Dr. Swamy to PM Narendra Modi re: SIT
https://vhsindia.org/en/dr-swamys-letter-to-pm-requesting-sit-to-be-independent/

Do not put SIT under any Ministry: Subramanian Swamy to Narendra Modi

By Press Trust of India @indiacom |  


New Delhi, June 23: BJP leader Subramanian Swamy today sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention in ensuring that the SIT on black money is not put under any ministry and has an independent existence. In a letter to Modi, he said the Special Investigation Team should not be made to function under any ministry as its work involves several ministries including Finance, Home, Defence, Corporate Affairs and External Affairs.

“I seek your urgent intervention to see that the SIT on black money is not structurally under any ministry but has an independent existence,” Swamy said in the letter. He said if at all, the SIT is “embedded in any Ministry, it will be best if it is made part of the Department of Personnel which is under your charge”.
He also rued that the SIT has not been given any office yet and that it was operating from two rooms in a hotel in central Delhi. The Supreme Court-appointed SIT has been probing various black money cases.
http://www.india.com/news/india/do-not-put-sit-under-any-ministry-subramanian-swamy-to-narendra-modi-433281/
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Tweet to NaMo: leave a legacy create National Water Grid for 24X7 water to every farm and every home in 6.2 lakh villages.

June 24, 2015, 3:23 am
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Who is a leader in a nation?

A leader is one who creates an institution with long-lasting impact for abhyudayam of the Rashtram.

One institution which can be announced by NaMo as the leader of the nation is National Water Grid.

So, I tweeted NaMo:

 6 minutes agoFort Tondiarpet, Tamil Nadu
NaMo,as a leader, leave a legacy create National Water Grid for 24X7 water to every farm and every home in 6.2 lakh villages.

Namaskaram. Kalyanaraman
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Plea to NaMo: Money Bill nationalising kaalaadhan, blackmoney in tax havens

June 24, 2015, 4:14 am
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NaMo, you achieved true Swarajyam for Bharatam Janam in May 2014. This has to be sustained. 

The Nation looks forward to the fulfilment of your pledge: restitution of kaalaadhan. The nation trusts you that you will fulfil this vow. 

During the last 68 years since 1947, the loot of the nation is larger than the loot of the colonial days. 

Such looters should NOT go unpunished to leave a legacy for the nation that RULE OF LAW will be enforced in this Rashtram of Dharma. 

So, go after the looters unmindful of the consequences or political considerations. 

Bharatam Janam deserve every paisa they can get back from this ENORMOUS loot. 

So, announce firm and decisive steps to restitute kaalaadhan. 

Do this by a MONEY BILL which nationalises the kaalaadhan and announces to all tax havens to return the money of Bharatiya citizens to India's financial institutions: This is PEOPLES MONEY and should belong to the Nation. 

This message is consistent with a law, for example, passed in Switzerland.https://www.admin.ch/opc/en/classified-compilation/20100418/201102010000/196.1.pdfRestitution of Illicit Assets Act (RIAA) Effective from 1 Feb. 2011

S. Kalyanaraman
Sarasvati Research Center
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Documents on 2012 Drone Strike Detail How Terrorists Are Targeted -- Scott Shane

June 24, 2015, 4:30 am
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U.S. Drone Strike Said to Kill Doctor Trying to Implant Bombs

By 
A United States Air Force drone. Strikes by the unmanned aircraft have come under fresh scrutiny after President Obama disclosed in April that an attack had killed two Western aid workers held hostage by Al Qaeda in Pakistan. Lt. Col. Leslie Pratt/U.S. Air Force, via Reuters

WASHINGTON — Early in 2012, worried that suicide bombers might pass through airline security undetected, American counterterrorism officials ordered a drone strike in Yemen to kill a doctor they believed was working with Al Qaeda to surgically implant explosives in operatives, according to British intelligence documents.

The documents, previously undisclosed, include details about how terrorism suspects are targeted in drone strikes and how strikes can go wrong at times. The documents also show how closely the National Security Agency has worked in Pakistan and Yemen with its British counterpart, Government Communications Headquarters, or G.C.H.Q.

Britain has carried out drone strikes only in war zones in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. The documents raise the possibility that in addition, British intelligence may have helped guide American strikes outside conventional war zones.

President François Hollande in Brussels on Monday after talks on Greece's debt crisis. WikiLeaks published documents that says the N.S.A. eavesdropped on three French presidents.WikiLeaks Files Said to Show N.S.A. Spied on French LeadersJUNE 23, 2015

Edward J. Snowden appeared via streaming video at the Swedish Parliament in Stockholm to receive an award in December.Snowden Sees Some Victories, From a DistanceMAY 19, 2015

President Obama spoke on Thursday about the two hostages accidentally killed in a counterterrorism operation.Obama Apologizes After Drone Kills American and Italian Held by Al QaedaAPRIL 23, 2015

Drone strikes carried out by the C.I.A. and the military’s Joint Special Operations Command have received fresh scrutiny after President Obama disclosed in April that a strike had killed two Western aid workers held hostage by Al Qaeda in Pakistan. In that case, intelligence officers targeting the Qaeda compound had no idea the hostages were there, illustrating how incomplete or faulty information has led to civilian deaths in the drone campaign.

Last week offered two more examples of the uncertain outcomes of airstrikes. A prominent Algerian terrorist, widely reported dead in a Pentagon strike by F-15s, appears to still be alive. And only several days after a strike in Yemen did American officials learn that an attack had killed the leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, who was also the No. 2 leader of Al Qaeda’s global terror network.

The British documents were provided by Edward J. Snowden, the former N.S.A. contractor, to The Guardian, the British newspaper and global website, and shared with The New York Times. Press officers for the N.S.A. and the C.I.A. declined to comment. G.C.H.Q. said in a statement that while it would not comment on intelligence operations, “We expect all states concerned to act in accordance with international law and take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian casualties when conducting any form of military or counterterrorist operations.”

An internal newsletter for the British agency identifies the doctor killed in a drone strike in Yemen on March 30, 2012, as Khadim Usamah, whom it describes as “the doctor who pioneered using surgically planted explosives.” The newsletter calls Dr. Usamah, who appears to have never been identified publicly before, a member of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the branch of the terrorist organization based in Yemen. It says he was killed along with a second Qaeda member.

The strike came at a time of especially intense concern inside the Obama administration about the persistent efforts of Al Qaeda in Yemen to use commercial aircraft to mount an attack on the United States. The chief bomb maker of the Arab peninsula branch, Ibrahim al-Asiri, was experimenting with designing explosives that a suicide attacker could carry undetected through conventional security checkpoints.

In August 2009, Mr. Asiri dispatched his younger brother, Abdullah al-Asiri, to Saudi Arabia with a bomb that by most accounts was inserted in his rectum. He detonated the explosives when he met with the Saudi counterterrorism chief, Mohammed bin Nayef, but the bomb killed only the younger Mr. Asiri.

On Dec. 25, 2009, a young Nigerian equipped by Mr. Asiri with explosives hidden in his underwear, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, made it through airline security and onto a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. But when he tried to blow up the flight as it approached Detroit, the bomb only ignited and burned Mr. Abdulmutallab, who was swiftly subdued by other passengers.

Some intelligence officials expressed concern after that failed attack that Mr. Asiri had recruited one or more surgeons to experiment with implanting a bomb with no metal parts into the abdomen of a suicide bomber. There is no known case in which such an attack was carried out, but the British documents suggest that intelligence officials believed Dr. Usamah was part of an effort to develop such plans when he was killed.

Some of the British agency’s documents suggest, though they do not explicitly state, that it provided intelligence for that strike in Yemen and other American strikes. That would be no surprise, since intelligence cooperation between the United States and Britain has long been close, particularly in the area of signals intelligence, or eavesdropping. The documents discuss the British agency’s employees who work at an N.S.A. station in Fort Gordon, Ga., and at a large N.S.A. center in England called Menwith Hill Station.

British officials rarely speak publicly about cooperation with the program of targeted killings. In a formal answer to a parliamentary inquiry last year about whether Britain was participating in unmanned aerial vehicle strikes in Yemen, the British defense minister, Mark Francois, replied in writing that “U.A.V. strikes against terrorist targets in Yemen are a matter for the Yemeni and U.S. governments.” The answer did not explicitly deny a British role, but certainly suggested there was not one.

American drone strikes are supported by a majority of the public in the United States but opposed by the British public. A poll last year by the Pew Research Center found that 52 percent of Americans backed the strikes, with 41 percent opposed. In Britain, 59 percent were opposed, while 33 percent approved of the strikes.

Opposition to the strikes is often based on reports of civilians killed unintentionally. While proponents argue that missiles fired from unmanned aircraft are the most precise way to eliminate terrorists, intelligence agencies often do not have enough detailed information about who is in a strike zone to be certain that all are militants posing a threat to the United States or to Americans overseas.

The British agency’s documents underscore the central role of eavesdropping and the tracking of electronic signals in identifying suspects and in determining their exact location. Such sophisticated technology may improve the odds of finding and hitting the intended target.

But the British documents also hint at the flawed conclusions that signals intelligence can produce.

For example, a smartphone carried by a target can be easily tracked by the N.S.A. or its British counterpart, and can contribute to what the agencies call “PID,” or positive identification. But phones can, of course, be passed from person to person, leading to mistaken identifications.

“Of significant note,” the British agency’s October 2010 guide to targeting says with careful understatement, “is whether the handset is identified as single user or multi-user.” The guide has a reference to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, indicating that it was written to assist in strikes there.

With such uncertainties in mind, agencies try to identify targets by both voice and physical appearance, the document says. It also describes attempts to determine a suspect’s “B.D.L.,” or bed-down location.

Some suspects are more “Comsec aware” than others, the guide says — in other words, some of them pay more attention to communications security, aware that counterterrorism agencies may be tracking their calls.

The guide talks about a suspect “detaching” from communications — for example, ending a call or turning off a mobile phone — and notes the obvious: that someone who is talking on the phone will “detach” when hit by a missile.

“Immediately after a strike it should be possible to detect whether the target detached at time of strike,” the guide notes. “This is a good indication that the correct target has been struck.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/25/world/middleeast/us-drone-strike-said-to-kill-doctor-trying-to-implant-bombs.html?emc=edit_na_20150624&nlid=55714762&ref=headline&_r=0

GCHQ documents raise fresh questions over UK complicity in US drone strikes

Details of 2012 Yemen drone strike prompt call for UK to reveal extent of involvement in US targeted killing programme outside recognised war zones


Yemenis walk past graffiti showing a US drone
 and 
Wednesday 24 June 2015 12.00 BST

British intelligence agency GCHQ is facing fresh calls to reveal the extent of its involvement in the US targeted killing programme after details of a fatal drone strike in Yemen were included in a top secret memo circulated to agency staff.
A leading barrister asked by the Guardian to review a number of classified GCHQdocuments said they raised questions about British complicity in US strikes outside recognised war zones and demonstrated the need for the government to come clean about the UK’s role.
The documents, provided to the Guardian by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and reported in partnership with the New York Times, discuss how a joint US, UK and Australian programme codenamed Overhead supported the strike in Yemen in 2012.
The files also show GCHQ and Overhead developed their ability to track the location of individuals – essential for the targeted killing programme – in both Yemen and Pakistan. The legality of the US’s lethal operations in both countries has been questioned by international lawyers and human rights groups.
Jemima Stratford QC, who reviewed the Snowden documents for the Guardian, said: “Assuming that the documents which I have seen are genuine, in my view they raise questions about the extent to which UK officials may have had knowledge of, or helped to facilitate, certain US drone strikes which were not carried out in the context of an international armed conflict,” she said.
“These documents underline why greater transparency as to UK official policies would help to ensure legality from a domestic and international law perspective.”
Stratford published a legal opinion last year warning that UK intelligence support for lethal strikes outside traditional battlefields – such as Iraq and Afghanistan – was likely to be illegal. “In our view, if GCHQ transferred data to the NSA in the knowledge that it would or might be used for targeting drone strikes that transfer is probably unlawful,” she wrote.
Ex-GCHQ chief Sir David Omand.
Pinterest
 Ex-GCHQ chief Sir David Omand signed a letter last November calling on the UK government to disclose its guidance on intelligence-sharing where individuals may be targeted by covert strikes. Photograph: Michael McGurk/Rex
British officials and ministers follow a strict policy of refusing to confirm or deny any support to the targeted killing programme, and evidence has been so scant that legal challenges have been launched on the basis of single paragraphs in news stories.

The release of the information, they wrote, would “underline the distinction between Reaper strikes by our armed forces in Afghanistan, and now Iraq, and those of other states elsewhere”.Even a former head of GCHQ has objected to Britain’s continuing secrecy over the issue. David Omand joined MPs Tom Watson and David Davis in signing a letter last November calling on the government to disclose its guidance on intelligence-sharing where individuals may be targeted by covert strikes.
Watson told the Guardian: “The government has always maintained we are not complicit in targeted extra-judicial killings. Any note of ambiguity identified by these documents has to be thoroughly investigated.”
The new documents include a regular series of newsletters – titled Comet News – which are used to update GCHQ personnel on the work of Overhead, an operation based on satellite, radio and some phone collection of intelligence. Overhead began as a US operation but has operated for decades as a partnership with GCHQ and, more recently, Australian intelligence.
The GCHQ memos, which span a two-year period, set out how Yemen became a surveillance priority for Overhead in 2010, in part at the urging of the NSA, shortly after the failed 2009 Christmas Day bomb plot in which Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attempted to detonate explosives hidden in his underpants on a transatlantic flight.
Ten months later a sophisticated plot to smuggle explosives on to aircraft concealed in printer cartridges was foiled at East Midlands airport. Both plots were the work of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the Yemen-based al-Qaida offshoot.
GCHQ noted in the memos that the NSA’s focus on Yemen was a “great opportunity” for UK agents to focus on any leads they had in the country. Given the domestic terror threat to the UK as well as internal conflicts in the country, GCHQ has multiple reasons to be monitoring individuals in the country.
One Comet News update reveals how Overhead’s surveillance networks supported an air strike in Yemen that killed two men on 30 March 2012. The men are both described as AQAP members.
In the memo, one of the dead men is identified as Khalid Usama – who has never before been publicly named – a “doctor who pioneered using surgically implanted explosives”. The other is not identified.
In the two years of memos seen by the Guardian, this was the only specific strike detailed, raising questions as to why GCHQ’s team decided to notify staff about this particular strike among hundreds.
GCHQ
Pinterest
 The files show GCHQ (pictured) and Overhead developed their ability to track the location of individuals – essential for the targeted killing programme – in both Yemen and Pakistan. Photograph: GCHQ/EPA
The Guardian asked GCHQ whether this was because UK personnel or bases were involved in the operation. The agency declined to comment, and offered no explanation as to why British staff were briefed on this particular strike.
US officials confirmed to Reuters in 2012 that there had been a single drone strike in Yemen on 30 March of that year. According to a database of drone strikes maintained by the not-for-profit Bureau of Investigative Journalism, the only incident in Yemen on that date targeted AQAP militants, causing between six and nine civilian casualties, including six children wounded by shrapnel.
Asked whether the strike described in the GCHQ documents was the same one as recorded in the Bureau’s database, GCHQ declined to comment.
The incident is one of more than 500 covert drone strikes and other attacks launched by the CIA and US special forces since 2002 in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia – which are not internationally recognised battlefields.
The GCHQ documents also suggest the UK was working to build similar location-tracking capabilities in Pakistan, the country that has seen the majority of covert strikes, to support military operations “in-theatre”.
A June 2009 document indicates that GCHQ appeared to accept the expanded US definition of combat zones, referring to the agency’s ability to provide “tactical and strategic SIGINT [signals intelligence] support to military operations in-theatre, notably Iraq and Afghanistan, but increasingly Pakistan”. The document adds that in Pakistan, “new requirements are yet to be confirmed, but are both imminent and high priority”.
The note was written months after Barack Obama entered the White House and escalated the use of drones in Pakistan, conducting more strikes in his first year in office than George W Bush had in the previous four years.
By this point NSA and GCHQ staff working within the UK had already prioritised surveillance of Pakistan’s tribal areas, where the majority of US covert drone strikes have been carried out. A 2008 memo lists surveillance of two specific sites and an overview of satellite-phone communications of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, in which nearly all Pakistan drone strikes have taken place, among its key projects.
British intelligence-gathering in Pakistan is likely to have taken place for a number of reasons, not least because UK troops in Afghanistan were based in Helmand, on the Pakistani border.
One of the teams involved in the geo-location of surveillance targets was codenamed “Widowmaker”, whose task was to “discover communications intelligence gaps in support of the global war on terror”, a note explains.
The radar domes of RAF Menwith Hill in Yorkshire
Pinterest
 Menwith Hill RAF base in Yorkshire, where some of the personnel involved in the ‘Widowmaker’ programme were based. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Illustrating the close links between the UK, US and Australian intelligence services, Widowmaker personnel are based at Menwith Hill in the north of England, in Denver, Colorado, and in Alice Springs in Australia’s Northern Territory.
Other Snowden documents discuss the difficult legal issues raised by intelligence sharing with the US.
A secret 2009 legal briefing suggests that British military lawyers believe that some US operations beyond traditional battlefields may be unlawful – a document that also highlights GCHQ’s efforts to operate within the bounds of the law in a complex and challenging environment.
The briefing prepared for GCHQ personnel sharing target intelligence in Afghanistan instructed them to refer to senior compliance staff before sharing information with the US if they believed it may be used for a “detention or cross-border operation”.
This, the documents states, was because the US forces were operating under Operation Enduring Freedom rules, which are less restrictive than the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force rules governing UK personnel. As a result, sharing intelligence “may result in unlawful activity” by GCHQ staff.
The Guardian contacted GCHQ with the information contained in this article, and asked a series of questions on the extent of intelligence sharing with the US in connection with targeted killing, and the legal framework for any such activities. The agency declined to comment on specifics, but provided the following statement.
“It is longstanding policy that we do not comment on intelligence matters,” said a spokesman. “Furthermore, all of GCHQ’s work is carried out in accordance with a strict legal and policy framework, which ensures that our activities are authorised, necessary and proportionate, and that there is rigorous oversight, including from the secretary of state, the interception and intelligence services commissioners and the parliamentary intelligence and security committee.
“All our operational processes rigorously support this position. In addition, the UK’s interception regime is entirely compatible with the European convention on human rights.”
The Guardian asked Downing Street why it refused to clarify any UK role in US drone strikes. A government spokesperson said: “It is the longstanding policy of successive UK governments not to comment on intelligence operations. We expect all states concerned to act in accordance with international law and take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian casualties when conducting any form of military or counter-terrorist operations.”
Asked last year about the Britain’s role in US operations outside traditional war zones, defence minister Mark Francois told parliament that “strikes against terrorist targets in Yemen are a matter for the Yemeni and US governments”. Ministers including Sayeeda Warsi have used similar language when discussing drone strikes in Pakistan.
The UK has faced previous legal challenges over the issue. In 2012, the family of a tribal elder killed in Pakistan, Noor Khan, launched a court case in England in which barristers claimed GCHQ agents who shared targeting intelligence for covert strikes could be “accessory to murder”. Judges twice refused to rule on the issue on the grounds it could harm the UK’s international relations.
• Alice Ross formerly worked on The Bureau of Investigative Journalism’s drones team.
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jun/24/gchq-documents-raise-fresh-questions-over-uk-complicity-in-us-drone-strikes
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I survived Emergency disguised as a Sikh: Subramanian Swamy -- Soumya Shankar

June 25, 2015, 6:27 am
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I survived Emergency disguised as a Sikh: Subramanian Swamy


Soumya Shankar @shankarmya 24 June 2015


The beginning

  • Subramanian Swamy first met Jayaprakash Narayan when the latter had come to Harvard in 1968.
  • By 1972 PM Indira Gandhi was at the peak of her power. There was corruption in the government.
  • JP decided to join politics. Swamy joined him. He acted as a bridge between JP and RSS leader Nanaji Deshmukh.
  • JP was arrested the night after he addressed a massive rally at Ramlila Maidan in 1975. Swamy managed to evade arrest.

The adventures

  • RSS was banned but Swamy helped set up underground units. He remains in close contact with Deshmukh until the latter's arrest.
  • Swamy escaped the country by going from Madras to Colombo and from there to London. There he mobilised opinion against Emergency.
  • He returned to India and sneaked into his own house disguised as a Sikh.
  • Though a wanted fugitive, he managed to enter Parliament and mark his presence as an MP.

Looking ahead

  • Swamy says Emergency can't be replicated, but India is moving towards a soft dictatorship.
  • He says institutions are being castrated, ministers are dummies and there is more paranoia.
A strong opponent of the Emergency, Subramanian Swamy's exploits during the 19 months when fundamental rights were suspended, have become part of political folklore.
A Member of Parliament from the Jan Sangh at that time, Swamy recounts how he managed to circumvent arrest and escape overseas to garner international support against an autocratic regime.
More personal stories of the Emergency - the fear, the friendships and the memories: Virendra Kapoor, Swaraj Kaushal, DP Tripathi, Anand Kumar
Soumya: How did you forge a relationship with Jayaprakash Narayan?
SS: He had come to Harvard when I was teaching there, in 1968. I got a call from the university marshall saying that there is an Indian here who wants to see the university. He said it's Jayaprakash Narayan.

A pure economist, I wasn't political at the time. But the name rang a bell because my father, who was in the freedom movement, had spoken much about him. JP was wearing a suit and a tie, and I was in traditional Indian clothing. JP's wife was impressed with this, as she was herself a freedom fighter. When his wife mentioned this to JP, he went back and changed his clothes.

As President of the Harvard Student's Association, I arranged a lecture for JP. Most people didn't know who he was, I introduced him as a great Gandhian, a man who refused the offer of deputy Prime Ministership from Jawaharlal Nehru and quit politics to do Sarvodaya.

At the end of the lecture, JP posed one question to the audience, "What was the last advice that Mahatma Gandhi gave to the Congress Party?" Nobody in the audience, except me knew the answer which was to "Wind up the Congress." JP was very appreciative of me and invited me back to India. I said I was thinking about it, to which he said these things have to be done like surgery. So I said I would return the next year.
Soumya: What were the events that led to the imposition of Emergency?
SS: In 1972, Indira Gandhi had won the Bangladesh War and became all powerful. There was corruption in the government. JP sent a telegram calling me to White Fields, Bangalore. He was convalescing from a heart attack. JP wanted an opinion on whether we should join politics. I was of the opinion that the people of India would not align with us in a serious way unless we take strong political positions.

JP agreed to enter politics and launch an anti-corruption movement. Thus started my involvement in the JP Movement. The movement needed an organisational base which only existed in the Jan Sangh - because of the RSS' backing.

Although JP and the Sangh were ideologically diametrically opposed, but I brought JP and Nanaji Deshmukh together-- and they hit it off and the movement flowered.

During that time, Mrs Gandhi lost the infamous Allahabad Court Case and the Emergency was declared.
Soumya: Was JP anticipating authoritarian rule at the time?
SS: No, not in the least. He was in fact anticipating Emergency in 1972-73. But by 1975, he thought his movement was the future and she wouldn't take such a step.

After the historic Ramlila Maidan rally, JP and I were having dinner at Gandhi Peace Foundation. He was very pleased with the massive support the movement had gathered. During the conversation, I mentioned to him that Indira Gandhi could declare Emergency any day. He rejected my suggestion saying the public would rise in anger and that she won't dare to do such a thing - not after the High Court order. I said that's all the more reason for her declare a state of Emergency.

Later that night, JP was picked up by the police at 3 am from his residence. Indira Gandhi, it seemed had declared Emergency.
Soumya:
How did you manage to escape and later organise politcal dissent while being underground?

SS: I got a phone call at 4 am from an undisclosed police source informing me about the arrest of JP, Morarji Desai and others. I was already expecting dictatorial rule and decided to go into hiding. In the morning we heard the broadcast where Indira Gandhi publicly announced the Emergency.

At first, it was difficult to find shelter. There was havoc in political circles. After the first two days, Nanaji Deshmukh located me through RSS cadres - who, by this time, had also gone underground.

Later, in 1980 Mrs Gandhi would ask me how did the RSS men escape. I told her she made the mistake of banning the organisation at 6 pm, right when they're all in the shakhas. So the message spread like wildfire. She should have arrested them between 1 and 2 pm - after lunch, during siesta hours.

During the month of July and the first three weeks of August, Nanaji and I were hiding in lower middle class colonies in Punjabi Bagh, parts of North Delhi and Timarpur. I used to disguise myself -- sometimes, I wore western clothes, mostly, I was in the guise of a turbaned Sikh.

We held meetings in the dead of the night. Slowly, we re-opened little chapters of the RSS and by the third week of August, a stable underground unit of the RSS was set up.

This was when Nanaji was arrested.
Soumya: That meant your hideouts were gone?
SS: This is where I think destiny played a major role. Nanaji and I were inseparable. Once, he went for a confidential meeting, leaving me with the car, which I drove around while waiting for him. After an hour as I returned to pick him up, I found that the electricity had blacked out and the police were there. Since it was too dark, they didn't see me. I fled while Nanaji was arrested.

Yes the hideout too was gone. Then, I stayed in Vithalbhai Patel House on Rafi Marg, with my wife's sister and her husband. Many Congressmen lived in that building - nobody recognised me.

After Nanaji's arrest, Madhavrao Mule took over the reins of the underground RSS. He called me to one of their hideouts and said JP had sent a message: 'Why is Swami roaming around in India? His strength is the Western world. He should propagate our side of the story there'. Till then, the international media's perception about the Emergency was that only smugglers, thieves and dacoits were being put behind bars by Indira Gandhi.

I had contacts within academia but didn't have any political base abroad. Mule affirmed that the RSS had already set up bases in some foreign countries. I sent my wife first to London and then to Washington. On her return, she confirmed what Mule had told me.
Soumya: How did you manage to sneak out of the country even when the police were on the lookout for you?
SS: Well, there was only one way. The DMK was in power in Chennai, and they weren't implementing the Emergency. From Chennai airport I flew out to Colombo - those days that didn't require a visa - and bought a British Airways ticket to London.
Soumya: How did you lobby with the international community against the presiding Indian government?
SS: In London we campaigned with overseas Indians in universities like Cambridge, Oxford, SOAS etc. I told them that Morarji was in solitary confinement; JP was in hospital and 1,40,000 people were in jail. Soon, the message began to spread. Questions on human rights were being raised. News of people being subjected to torture in jail reached the foreign press.

While overseas, I established the Friends of India Society where we urged members to send messages to their relatives back home to resist the Emergency. The plan was to turn the common citizens of India against the Emergency.
Soumya: Did the international media help?
SS: Yes, the BBC and Voice of America played a big role in spreading our message. Since I was always considered anti-Soviet, the Americans and the British were only happy to talk to me.

From London I went to America where I visited 25 of the 50 states with this message. The Indian underground connected with us, sending regular updates about riots, tortures, Sanjay Gandhi's mass sterilisation programme and so on. Soon, Amnesty International and the American Congress got involved. Slowly, the noise started increasing.
We held meetings at night. Slowly, we re-opened little chapters of RSS and soon an underground unit was set up
But even after about six months of campaigning abroad, nothing was happening in India. With no end in sight, the unanswered question still was - how and when will the Emergency end?

In the meantime, Harvard had offered me my professorship back and my American friends were pushing me to leave this useless fight and settle down in the States.

That is when I decided I had to do something to justify my existence.

I decided to go to India, enter Parliament, make a short speech and disappear.

By then I had been declared a proclaimed offender, a wanted criminal. My passport was cancelled. The Americans, being my friends, supported me. I left America on my own name and passport.
Soumya: How did you enter India without being detected?
SS: I evaluated various options of arriving in an illegal boat, taking a flight via Nepal etc. I finally decided to buy a hopping flight ticket to Bangkok, via Delhi. So not being a Delhi-bound passenger, my name would not figure in the Delhi passenger manifest. Moreover, I carried no luggage and chose Pan American airlines - they were the most disorganised airline at that time.

When the plane landed in Delhi at 3 am, all passengers were taken to the transit lounge. I sneaked out of the transit lounge and walked towards the Departures section. There was a lone policeman sitting at the door. I pulled out my Parliament pass. He saluted me. Walking out, I hired a taxi and checked into a hotel. In a disguised voice I called my wife, passing off as Mark Tully.

She had already prepared my false beard, turban and a pair of zero-powered spectacles. That evening, disguised as a Sikh mechanic, I entered my own house - which was heavily patrolled by policemen - and stayed there for 5 days. Here, I planned the Parliament episode.
Swamy interview on Emergency embed 2
Swamy in disguise
Soumya: What happened in Parliament?
SS: It was the first session of Parliament. The plan was to go in, make a little noise, sign my attendance register and walk out.

My wife and I drove our car to the House - those days, one could drive straight to the gates of Parliament. I told my wife, if I make it out without being arrested, you would find the car parked at Birla Mandir. I had a change of clothes in the car - a Gandhi topi, a shirt, a pair of trousers and a kada - the then 'Congress goon' gear. If you see the car, I told her, under the mat will be the key, take the key and drive the car back. I will take a train and from Mathura I will send a telegram saying 'books have arrived' which would indicate my safe escape from Delhi.

I got down, parked the car, walked in. The Watch and Ward staff of the Parliament asked me, 'Have you been let off?' I said that nowadays anybody could be let off by signing the 20-point programme.

My arrest warrant was in the police station. The police were in Pragati Maidan where Sanjay Gandhi was addressing a meeting. The foreign press had already been tipped off and they were present in the Parliament. All this was planned. I had about 15 minutes.

I walked into the House, and signed the attendance register, just as the obituary announcements were being made. Just as the Speaker concluded the list, I got up and said 'Sir, I have a point of order. In this intercession period, democracy has died. So please include that in your obituary'.

The Congress MPs saw me, they were frozen stiff! Indira Gandhi was not in Parliament that day. Later, she would be furious at her party men for their callous behaviour and letting me leave the House.
FULL SUITE
Sanjay, VC Shukla to Bansi Lal: 10 villains of the Emergency
The fears I developed during Emergency haven't left me: Virendra Kapoor
Emergency blindness: things LK Advani forgot to see
Anand Kumar: An anti-Emergency activist abroad
Sanjay, VC Shukla to Bansi Lal: 10 villains of the Emergency
The fears I developed during Emergency haven't left me: Virendra Kapoor
Emergency blindness: things LK Advani forgot to see
Anand Kumar: An anti-Emergency activist abroad
Sanjay, VC Shukla to Bansi Lal: 10 villains of the Emergency
The fears I developed during Emergency haven't left me: Virendra Kapoor
Soumya: Weren't the police alerted by then?
SS: While the MPs were observing the two-minute silence ritual, I stepped out. As, they were telephoning the police, I had slipped out of Parliament.

By the time I changed my clothes and reached the railway station, the police had sealed off Delhi. I acted aggressively with a sub inspector, pretending to be a Congress goon. He escorted me to the train - thinking I was a Congress leader.

From there, changing trains, I went to Bombay where the RSS underground network picked me up.
Soumya: Did the Parliament episode create any ripples in the foreign press?
SS: The international press was derisive of Mrs Gandhi. What kind of Emergency was she running, they asked? A man wanted by the State walks into the Parliament, creates a ruckus and then disappears!

From Bombay, I went to Nepal. The King of Nepal, being my former student at Harvard, sent me off of to the United States on a private plane. By then it was December 1976 already.

In January, Mrs Gandhi declared elections and the Emergency was lifted.
Soumya: When you look back at the Emergency, what was the one emotion that was driving you during those days?
SS: I had no fear at the time. I've been brought up with the philosophy of the Bhagwad Gita which says that the only freedom lies in actions, results are unpredictable. I have no expectations. I've never been disappointed.

A year ago, I was supposed to be the new Finance Minister. At the last minute I was cheated out of it. I didn't mind. Today, everybody says you're smart to be out of this government - you would have been discredited by now. Nothing much is happening. Now, if I come in, I'll be equal to the Prime Minister.
Soumya: When you look back at the Emergency episode, do you think something like that could happen again?
SS: It cannot be replicated.

What can happen is not a hard dictatorship like we had during Indira Gandhi's time but a soft dictatorship - where people selectively die, get killed, run over by cars, poisoned, and fear is spread through word-of-mouth.
Soumya: Some are saying it's already happening in a disguised way...
SS: Well, it happened in Sonia Gandhi's time also.

It is there, I'm cognisant of it. So I'm preparing for it.

However, I don't think this country will be anything but democratic. We may go through two- three months of unrest.

Today, every institution is being castrated. The media is castrated as is the bureaucracy. There is more paranoia. Ministers are dummies. The situation is also quite brittle. However, there are enough people who will not let it happen.
Soumya Shankar
SOUMYA SHANKAR@shankarmya
A correspondent with Catch, Soumya covers politics, education, art, culture and photograph...
http://www.catchnews.com/politics-news/every-institution-is-being-castrated-today-subramanian-swamy-1435159781.html
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Narendra Modi on Anniversary of Emergency Rule , when the then political leadership trampled over our democracy (11:43)

June 25, 2015, 7:09 am
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25-26th June cannot be forgotten in the history of India. 40 years ago the Nation was placed under Emergency: PM

  1.  12 hours ago
    A vibrant liberal democracy is the key to progress. Let us do everything possible to further strengthen our democratic ideals & ethos.
    1,530 retweets1,883 favorites
  2.  retweeted
     12 hours ago
    We are very proud of the lakhs of people, who resisted the Emergency & whose efforts ensured that our democratic fabric is preserved.
    1,539 retweets1,630 favorites
  3.  retweeted
     12 hours ago
    Inspired by the call of JP, several men & women across India selflessly immersed themselves in the movement to safeguard our democracy.
    1,127 retweets1,194 favorites
  4.  retweeted
     12 hours ago
    We mark 40 years of one of India's darkest periods- the Emergency, when the then political leadership trampled over our democracy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcotZlZsrbg Published on Jun 25, 2015

Narendra Modi on Anniversary of Emergency Rule

After silence on Cong jibes, PM Modi speaks up (on Emergency's dark days)

New Delhi, Jun 25 (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday took a dig at the Congress for trampling over Indian democracy, saying the nation was bound with chains and turned into a jail 40 years back due to “lust for power”.
Utilising the 40th anniversary of Emergency to target the then Indira Gandhi-led Congress government, Modi also said a vibrant liberal democracy is the key to progress and that everything should be done to strengthen democratic ideals and ethos.
”We mark 40 years of one of India's darkest periods- the Emergency, when the then political leadership trampled over our democracy,” he tweeted.

Emergency was declared on June 25, 1975 and continued till March 21, 1977, and the period was characterised by a brutal suppression of civil liberties and arrest of key political leaders who opposed Indira Gandhi's action.
”A vibrant liberal democracy is the key to progress. Let us do everything possible to further strengthen our democratic ideals & ethos,” he said.
The prime minister recalled that lakhs of people had resisted the Emergency declared by Indira Gandhi.
”We are very proud of the lakhs of people, who resisted the Emergency & whose efforts ensured that our democratic fabric is preserved,” he said.
”Inspired by the call of JP, several men & women across India selflessly immersed themselves in the movement to safeguard our democracy,” Modi said, referring to Jaiprakash Narayan.
The prime minister said the Emergency brings back many memories and that youngsters had learnt a lot during the anti-Emergency movement.
”Personally, the Emergency brings back many memories. As youngsters, we learnt a lot during the anti-Emergency movement.
”Emergency was a great opportunity to work with a wide spectrum of leaders & organisations fighting for the same goal- return of democracy,” he said.
Modi also referred to Emergency while speaking at the launch of Smart Cities Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation and Housing for All Missions here.
”Nobody can forget June 25-26 in the history of India. 40 years back, the country was bound with chains of emergency and turned into a jail for the lust for power.
”Lakhs of patriots nursing the dream of “Sampoorna Kranti” under the leadership of JP were jailed. Newspaper offices were locked and the radio aired only what the government then wanted,” the prime minister said.
A day after the Union Cabinet chaired by him decided to set up a national memorial for socialist icon Jai Prakash Narayan in his birthplace in poll-bound Bihar, the prime minister said that the memorial would always be an inspiration to democracy loving citizens of the country.
Expressing joy over the Cabinet's decision to set up the memorial, he said it would always be an inspiration and guiding light for democracy lovers and citizens of this country. 

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150625/jsp/frontpage/story_27733.jsp#.VYwI8xuqqko

40 years after Emergency

MG Devasahayam| 25 June, 2015

As the nation is commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Emergency that turned a democratic Republic into a dictatorial fiefdom there is something bizarre in the political firmament. The present head of this very ‘democratic Republic’ was an important government functionary active in implementing Indira Gandhi’s dictatorship agenda.
In the run-up to the Presidential election in 2012, Ram Jethmalani made this charge against Pranab Mukherjee - “During the scandalous Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi in 1975 and the resulting suspension of human rights of all citizens and the virtual demise of democracy, you were a very loyal supporter of the Emergency. You fully supported it and participated in its misdeeds. You cannot honestly claim that at least in some small measure you expressed your disapproval of its evil or that you prevented a single atrocity inflicted upon some honest citizen. Citizens possessed of the highest intellectual, moral and spiritual qualifications were the victims. You saved none. Throughout the Emergency, you acted like a loyal servant of the Gandhi family and what is worse, you were a complete collaborator with the main criminal of the Emergency i.e., the late Sanjay Gandhi. You treated him as your boss.”
The charge was not repudiated, but made no difference to the election. Mr Mukherjee won by convincingly defeating Purno Sangma, former Lok Sabha Speaker and a prominent tribal face.
The irony is that the present head of government (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) was at the opposite end of the Emergency when it was imposed. This is the Wikimedia Commons narrative about Modi’s anti-Emergency role - “The RSS managed to create a coordinating committee for the fight against Emergency - the Gujarat Lok Sangharsh Samiti. It was in these trying times that Narendra Modi became an active underground revolutionary for overthrowing the dictatorship of Mrs. Gandhi. Narendra Modi took active part in transporting activists, arranging secret meetings and creating safe houses for the party members. Modi soon became the ‘Go-to man’ of anti-emergency resistance in Gujarat.”
The tragicomedy of the Indian Republic is that the Prime Minister and President, who were at opposite ends of the Emergency four decades ago, are now doing jugalbandi  with the former producing Ordinances - symbols of autocratic governance - by the dozen and the latter signing them with utmost dispatch! The three-time promulgation of the regressive LARR Amendment Ordinance is a typical case in point.
Political hypocrisy of the post-Emergency period is epitomized by the fate meted out to the Shah Commission Report that had exposed the Stalinist agenda. It revealed how a system of administration was subverted, how sycophancy to the leader and her son reached unsurpassable levels, how middle-level bureaucrats connived with extra-constitutional power centres to wreck established norms and rules of governance. The Commission submitted its report - three volumes running into over 500 pages - by August 1978.
Emergency excesses were mentioned and examined in detail and the culprits singled out. Here is an example: “It is thus clear on the basis of evidence that has been brought on record that Mr. Pranab Kumar Mukherjee, the then Minister of State of Revenue and Banking, has misused his position and abused his authority in ordering the detention of Smt. Gayatri Devi and Colonel Bhavani Singh on wholly insufficient grounds. It is a clear case of subversion of the lawful process and of administrative procedures.” Separately, the Commission accused him of fudging the file about their release on parole, first recommending it to the PM and then retracting it under pressure.
The Government only had to follow up with action against those indicted. For this purpose the Janata Party government appointed a Committee under the Chairmanship of LP Singh (ICS), former Union Home Secretary with DP Kohli, former CBI Director and MLM Hooja, former Director of IB as members. BS Raghavan (IAS) was the Member-Secretary. This Committee gave its final report before the end of 1978 suggesting specific action against those found guilty by the Commission.
Till date nothing has happened and the Report of the Commission headed by a former Chief Justice of India died a silent death. The people it held responsible for Emergency excesses went from strength to strength. Indira Gandhi returned as Prime Minister and Pranab Mukherjee became finance minister. Sanjay Gandhi’s career was on the ascent when fate intervened. The officials who implemented his orders, often with a lot of violence, lay low for few years but returned to hold influential positions, some of them in the BJP-led NDA I. What is more, the family (wife and son) of Sanjay Gandhi migrated to the BJP and has been holding powerful political positions since then.  Pranab Mukherjee kept on scaling new heights with the rare distinction of serving at different times as Commerce, Foreign, Defence and Finance Minister and just missed out on becoming Prime Minister. He was awarded Padma Vibhushan in 2008 and has been acclaimed for his role as a consensus builder on difficult national issues. He finally reached the pinnacle of office as the President of India on 25 July 2012.
Proving Jethmalani right Mr. Mukherjee in his book,  The Dramatic Decade: The Indira Gandhi Years (Rupa Publications; December 2014) endorsed the extraordinary situation for declaring the Emergency - “Prices soared, September 1974 witnessed a steep rise in the wholesale price index, touching 33.33%. Smuggling and profiteering created an environment of frustration and restlessness. Industrial unrest increased, culminating in the railway strike of 1974, dealing yet another severe blow to the economy. The government’s attempt to nationalize the wholesale trade in foodgrains failed and added to the confusion…It was against this backdrop that Jayaprakash Narayan (JP) started his movement against corruption. People supported his call because the sky-rocketing inflation and the lack of goods and services had already affected them adversely…If this was not extraordinary, what else was?”
This ‘extraordinary’ situation was due to rank corruption and incompetence and in no way justified Indira Gandhi’s death warrant on democracy. This bizarre endorsement assumes significance because only months earlier BJP (the self-proclaimed Emergency opponent) had formed the central government by trouncing Congress party that had imposed the Emergency.
While the Emergency-peddlers went up and up, those who genuinely opposed it and who assisted the Shah Commission at arriving at the truth were down and out. The team which probed demolitions in Delhi and censorship was shunted out of Delhi when Indira Gandhi returned to power in 1980. The worst was reserved for PR Rajagopal, who was secretary to the Commission. An MP-cadre IPS officer, who had held very senior posts in the BSF and CRPF prior to joining the Commission with the rank of a government secretary, was shunted out to the Bureau of Police Research and Development. This was the ‘reward’ for Justice Shah’s noting that “services rendered by Rajagopal have been outstanding’’.
The Emergency’s blackest spot was an attempt on the life of JP during his confinement in PGI Chandigarh. Due to certain circumstantial factors I, being the District Magistrate of Chandigarh and custodian of JP in jail had serious suspicion about this conspiracy. ‘Delhi Durbar’ considered JP as the only person of stature who could defeat the Emergency and should therefore be put out. But by playing hardball with the PMO this conspiracy was defeated. JP was released and sent post-haste to Bombay’s Jaslok Hospital just in time for his kidneys to be saved. He lived for four more years, defeated the Emergency and removed the dynasty from power in the early 1977 elections replacing it with the ‘Janata’ Government. My reward from this Government was relentless hounding and severe damage to my career because I stood in the way of the new power-drunk coteries following the same corrupt and autocratic ways of the past. But the big question remains: Post-Emergency has India enriched its freedom and democracy? Far from it. In fact ruling dispensations have benchmarked Emergency excesses and have made them into reference points for shrinking freedom and liberty. From an autocracy, India has morphed into ‘kleptocracy,’ a system wherein ruling establishments arrogate the power and resources of the state and govern-at-will. This is India four decades after the Emergency!


http://www.thestatesman.com/news/opinion/40-years-after-emergency/71492.html
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Will Modi get free of Lutyens' Delhi? -- MD Nalapat

June 25, 2015, 9:16 pm
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WILL MODI GET FREE OF LUTYENS’ DELHI?

Geopolitical notes from India

M D Nalapat

Friday, June 26, 2015 - Although his words gave a promise of comprehensive change, once sworn in to office on May 26,2014 Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi apparently decided to continue with the personalities and policies of the past. The Union Cabinet chosen by him - and it must be said that he had complete freedom to select whomsover he wished, and did - could have been chosen by his bete noire within the BJP, Lal Krishna Advani. Indeed, much of Team Modi is actually a repeat of Team Advani, with the members of the latter leader seamlessly moving to the side of the former in stages after events in 2012 showed the inevitability of the then Gujarat Chief Minister emerging as the Prime Ministerial candidate of his party, elbowing out Advani and his chosen substitute Sushma Swaraj ( now Minister of External Affairs). 

How and why Modi expected that those steeped in the tradition of Lutyens Delhi would alter their ways of functioning is a mystery. Suffice it to say that they have not, and that several components of the Modi government act and react in the same manner as its predecessors have. Indeed, this columnist has more than once characterised the Modi-led government as being a compound mixed with 40% Vajpayee,40% Manmohan Singh and only 20% Modi. Overall, rather than cut away at the many regulations and laws that have constrained progress of India over the past two centuries, thus far new government has instead sought to increase hold of state over citizen. 

Although a Digital India has been promised, there seems no visible effort by the Department of Telecom (headed by a Permanent Resident of Lutyens Delhi who is also a lawyer, Ravi Shankar Prasad, the brother-in-law of former Congress Party minister Rajiv Shukla) to increase internet surfing speeds, which in India are lower than in almost every other country in Asia with the exception perhaps of Afghanistan and North Korea. At a time when the world is moving into 5G, in this country even 4G has yet to be implemented except within very narrow bands. The other country with a billion-plus people has no fewer than 800 million people online, while in India the figure is below 200 million. While China has its own versions of Facebook, Twitter and other internet applications, in India, foreign companies have a monopoly. 

In India, the primary purpose of much of the laws and regulations enacted in a flood since 1947 are not to improve the lives of the population but to ensure more and more avenues for the collection of bribes. Doing anything worthwhile in India is to run an obstacle race with the authorities, with officials placing roadblocks in profusion so as to force the hapless victim to pay a bribe. In many segments of the economy, the shifting to online systems has become a farce. Take the situation in the Passport Department, where it is a miracle if an individual can get his or her passport online. Each time, some excuse or the other appears onscreen, necessitating a visit to the Passport Office, the very chore that online systems were designed to obviate. In the Passport Office, those (mostly from travel agencies) who keep the staff happy in ways unnecessary to define get served quickly. The staff pay very little attention to documentation in such cases, although in the case of those who do not pay up, they call for document upon document to be produced, wasting several hours of the applicant’s time in the process.

The hell continues to the present day, to the dismay of those who expected the coming into office of Narendra Modi would bring about change. Government offices are still lethargic and still cash-hungry. Indeed, some departments such as the tax authorities are these days raking in even more money than in the past, for the simple reason that Modi has blocked political interference in their functioning. This was done to reduce corruption but the effect has been to free officials of the worry that they will be held to account by politicians and hence have become bolder in their demands on taxpayers. Lutyens Delhi regards itself as the colonial master of the rest of the country, and in the manner of such an agency, focusses on making as much money as possible from the people. The focus of activity in Lutyens Delhi is the enrichment of friends and family, often to the level of billions of dollars. 

A similar mindset prevails among significant sections of the business community. For example, a businessperson imports a $40m equipment for $ 100m, sharing the loot of $ 60m with officials and politicians but keeping enough to offset the investment he has made in the company. Cleared of this, and relying on borrowed funds to run his enterprise, businessman has zero reason to prevent company from going sick, as he has already recovered his investment through over-invoicing of imports. A common scam is to purchase in bulk items from One Dollar Stores through a dummy company and for this company to resell goods to another at much higher prices, thereby squandering foreign exchange through the importing of goods at prices way above those actually paid. Money gets made equally through under-invoicing of exports, where goods are sold at low prices to a dummy entity that immediately resells them at a huge mark up to genuine buyer, balance going into an offshore account.

It would be a simple matter for the authorities to examine suspicious 
imports and exports and to make an example of those cheating the exchequer, but of course, this is not done except in cosmetic cases. Instead, more and more laws get passed, and regulation upon regulation gets added on to mix, making it a hell on earth to not just do business but to go about ordinary business of life. Every say there is risk of some corrupt official using a law or a rule to create complications for a citizen. With his promise of ‘Minimum Govt’, it was expected that Modi would change such an ugly reality. However ,this far, Lutyens Delhi appears to still be in driver’s seat. Taxes remain high as do regulations and interest rates, while sector after sector remains choked and clogged by worst bureaucracy in Asia. PM Modi has very little time before people of India lose faith in his promises, to free himself of Lutyens Delhi and instead govern on behalf of the entire country. Each day, his government is losing public support, as each day, citizens await the day when PM Modi will run at least a 40% Modi government rather than the current 20% version .—The writer is Vice-Chair, Manipal Advanced Research Group, UNESCO Peace Chair & Professor of Geopolitics, Manipal University, Haryana State, India. 
http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=267193
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NaMo, go after kaalaadhan. Congi playing dirty IPL politics diverting attention from the post-colonial loot

June 27, 2015, 5:22 pm
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Lalit Modi is a distraction from the main theme of Swarajyam 2014 which has to be nurtured and sustained, in economic and cultural terms by making Bharatam p-sec mukt Bharat. (p-sec is short form of Pseudo-Secular of the Congi or Ramachandra Guha commie types).

The main topic for the media should be post-colonial loot. Sure, IPL was a mock fight between two bodies adminsitering cricket: BCCI and ICC. Politicians got on to the cricket bandwagon as a proxy for playing politics, instead of playing cricket: Sharad Pawar is an example. Cricket patriotism has been converted into making money through IPL as a money-spinner. If there has been corruption and money laundering, punish the culprits.


NaMo should take step 1: delink politics and politicians from cricket control by BCCI, IPL.

NaMo should taked step 2: to stay from Lalit Modi distractions of small-change, go after the big looters who have destroyed constitutional institutions and subverted the Constitution while stashing away the loot from the nation into tax havens. The post-colonial loot since 1947 is much larger than the colonial loot.

NaMo should announce step 3: Empower SIT set up immediately after May 2014 into a Principal Prosecuting Institution for restitution of the enormous kaalaadhan for the benefit of the poor Bharatam Janam. Make Dr. Subramanian Swamy the principal Prosecutor with the rank of Dy. Prime Minister. This SIT operation should be run like the Nuremberg Trial against traitors of the nation who have looted from the poor Bharatam Janam.

NaMo should take step 4: Do not allow the media to set the agenda of governance and enforcement of Rule of Law. NaMo's government should set the framework for enforcing the Rule of Law against looters who have made Bharatam one of the most looted nations on the globe.

NaMo should announce step 5: Formation of United Indian Ocean Economic Union to balance the Eurasian Economic Union and the European Union to take the 3 billion people of the Indian Ocean Rim to a fair share of world GDP which existed in 0 CE (pace Angus Maddison; see chart).

S. Kalyanaraman
Sarasvati Research Center

Stupid to call Lalit Modi a 'bhagoda': He wasn't one, and still isn't one


by R Jagannathan  Jun 27, 2015 13:30 IST

There has been such a media cacophony in the Lalit Modi affair, which threatens to politically singe the BJP at the centre and in Rajasthan, that not much is making sense anymore. The Congress-led political slug-fest, the media’s extreme shrillness and rush to judgment, and Lalit Modi’s own efforts to toss all kinds of names into the controversial pot through Twitter one-liners suggest that we will soon be chasing our own tails if we do not stop to think. Among others, we have seen the President’s office and the Gandhi family being mentioned in Lalit Modi's tweets. Regardless of the truth of his statements, the chances are we will soon be overwhelmed by distractions posing as evidence.
Lalit Modi in a file photo. Getty Images
Lalit Modi in a file photo. Getty Images
Even the BJP isn't thinking straight on this one, with one worthy who should know better choosing to call Lalit Modi a "bhagoda". Lalit Modi is a "bhagoda" only in the sense that powerful people seek the protection of another jurisdiction in order to escape the Indian political-legal-justice system's dysfunctionalities. No one in India expects the system to deliver justice once it has turned against you, and the powerful certainly are not obliged to stay and suffer in silence.
Consider just three things that stick out a mile in l'affaire Lalit.
First, there has been a strenuous effort to paint the former boss of the IPL as some kind of dangerous criminal, helping whom is tantamount to anti-national activity. This is bull***t. Lalit Modi may be an aggressive businessman who may have run the IPL and his other capers whimsically, possibly by contravening the letter of the law, but this is how all businesses are run in the corrupt Indian ecosystem. He is no elevated criminal who needs to be treated like a pariah ordesh drohi. This is not to condone any of his illegalities - or the ones his friends in the BJP or other parties may have indulged in - but Lalit Modi’s transgressions are not some exceptionally vile acts.
Second, the media has tended to gloss over the real trigger behind his decision to scoot to the UK: the toxic rivalry within the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Everyone knows that Lalit Modi made IPL a moneyspinner and this made him a future threat to the dominance of other powerful vested interests in BCCI. As an analogy, see how trends in national politics mirror what may have happened in the BCCI. The rise of Narendra Modi has forced rivals and allies to cut him down to size; similarly, the rise of Lalit Modi created a short-term convergence of interests in the BCCI which led to his ouster from IPL. If you are not convinced, consider how N Srinivasan, whose power waxed after Lalit Modi’s ouster, was himself cut down to size when he became very powerful.
So, the chances are the rest of the BCCI ganged up against Lalit Modi to oust him from the IPL, and the UPA government was happy to oblige the cricketing powers by going after him. After some interim changes, the IPL is firmly in the BCCI's grip, and was, till mid-2013, run by Congressman Rajiv Shukla. He resigned in the wake of the spot-fixing scandal that rocked IPL.
And let's not forget, Lalit Modi’s most famous run-in with the UPA happened when he cocked a snook at P Chidambaram, who as home minister refused to provide security for IPL in 2009 due to the overlapping timelines of the Lok Sabha elections and the tournament. Lalit Modi overnight shifted his league to South Africa. Chidambaram does not forgive anyone who shows him up easily - and it suited the Congress and the BCCI to keep a BJP-linked businessman out of the country. After returning as finance minister in 2012, Chidambaram reportedly asked the UK government to send him back since his Indian passport had been revoked, but the fact is his government did not doanything to formally seek his extradition. This is for a simple reason: you can’t seek to extradite anybody purely by issuing him show cause notices.
So one must ask Chidambaram and the Congress party: if Lalit Modi’s crimes were of such import, why did they not really go after him? Is it possible that they merely wanted him to stay out and not return home to cause further trouble, this time for many more powers in the BCCI? No one probably wanted him back in the country where he could implicate many more people - as he has been doing in recent tweets. NCP boss Sharad Pawar, Lalit's old guardian angel, has gone one step further by admitting that he met Lalit Modi in London and advised him to return, promising to get him a fair hearing. This is not the language one uses with a so-called fugitive.
As Surjit Bhalla argues in The Indian Express today (27 June), Lalit cannot be called a fugitive at all. The “two prerequisites to being a fugitive are, one, being charged with committing a criminal offence, and, two, being unlawfully at large in order to avoid prosecution (or arrest or imprisonment)” but both are missing in Lalit’s case (even today, after all this fuss).
Bhalla goes further and suggests that there was no reason for either Vasundhara Raje or Sushma Swaraj to resign because the three things he had been accused of – illegal money transactions, investing in Vasundhara Raje’s son’s company, and cheating (in a complaint filed by N Srinivasan, his rival in the BCCI – have not even resulted in him being charged for these crimes. Says Bhalla: “Future events might “prove” that Lalit Modi did commit these or other crimes — even if that does happen, it does not mean that either Swaraj or Raje did anything wrong, because at the time of their “friendship” acts, Lalit Modi had not been charged with any crime.”
Not only that, it now transpires that the UPA’s decision to revoke Lalit Modi’s passport was itself wrong. The Delhi high court has returned his passport, and three former Supreme Court judges had backed Lalit in his fight to get his passport back. And the Interpol’s former chief, Ronald Noble, made it clear that the Indian media is on the wrong track.
Asked by Ritu Sarin of The Indian Express about Lalit Modi’s fugitive status, Noble blasts the India media for being ill-informed. He said: “The Indian media consistently states that he is ‘wanted by the Enforcement Directorate’. Is this the same Enforcement Directorate that falsely claims there is something called an Interpol light blue notice? There is no such thing as a light blue notice. The Enforcement Directorate never gave Interpol any information about Lalit Modi. Therefore why does the Indian media, including yourself, constantly mistake that Lalit Modi is wanted for arrest when you know that to be false? If he is wanted then publish the arrest warrant they claim was issued in 2010.”
Clearly, the claim that Lalit Modi is a fugitive from justice is a piece of fiction generated by the Congress and the media that has no love lost for the NDA government.
Third, Lalit Modi has been hyperactive in trying to name as many names as he can in recent interactions with the media and on Twitter. He has made no bones about his friendships with Vasundhara Raje or other politicians in other parties. The question is: why is he doing this?
The logical answer to me is this: he is essentially trying to say if my friends are unwilling to help me, I have no obligation to protect them. He is also implying that if he is pushed further to the wall, he will not care who goes down with him.
Some conclusions flow from the above three points. One, the government must pursue cases against Lalit Modi if they have merit. Otherwise, there is no point wasting time and money on this. As of now Lalit Modi is not a fugitive. He can become one if some cases against him generate enough evidence to charge-sheet him. Two, there is no point in sacrificing Vasundhara Raje or Sushma Swaraj in the name of probity, for they have at best tried to help a friend in need, and, at worst, made wrong judgment calls by seeking (as in Raje’s case) Lalit’s money for investment. Three, the BCCI needs to be reined in. It is a den of vested interests where corruption can – and does - flourish. Maybe we need a court-appointed administrator to clean up the BCCI before allowing it to continue to run Indian crocket.
http://www.firstpost.com/india/stupid-to-call-lalit-modi-a-bhagoda-he-wasnt-one-and-still-isnt-one-2315254.html
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कैच मी इफ़ यू कैन: सुब्रमण्यम स्वामी -- Rehan Fazal BBC Interview

June 27, 2015, 5:35 pm
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You can listen to the interview by clicking here. You can also download it if you want to.click on the "Download" button on the top left corner

http://1drv.ms/1Jobsya

कैच मी इफ़ यू कैन: सुब्रमण्यम स्वामी

रेहान फ़ज़लबीबीसी संवाददाता, दिल्ली
  • 27 जून 2015
जयप्रकाश नारायण के साथ सुब्रमण्यम स्वामी
जयप्रकाश नारायण के साथ सुब्रमण्यम स्वामी.
25 जून, 1975 को रामलीला मैदान में जेपी की ऐतिहासिक सभा से लौटने के बाद सुब्रमण्यम स्वामी गहरी नींद में थे कि अचानक चार बजे सुबह उनके फ़ोन की घंटी बजी. दूसरे छोर पर ग्रेटर कैलाश पुलिस स्टेशन का एक सब इंस्पेक्टर था.
उसने कहा, "क्या आप घर पर हैं? क्या मैं आपसे मिलने आ सकता हूँ?"स्वामी ने उसे आने के लिए हाँ कर दिया.
लेकिन उनका माथा ठनका कि पुलिस किसी के यहाँ जाने से पहले ये नहीं बताती कि वो उससे मिलने आ रही है. ज़ाहिर था कोई उन्हें टिप ऑफ़ कर रहा था कि समय रहते आप अपने घर से निकल कर ग़ायब हो जाइए.
स्वामी ने वही किया. तड़के साढ़े चार बजे वो गोल मार्केट में रह रहे अपने दोस्त सुमन आनंद के घर चले गए.

पढ़िए विवेचना विस्तार से

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सुब्रमण्यम स्वामी, जयप्रकाश नारायण, मोरारजी देसाई, नानाजी देशमुख, राजनारायण
पुलिस ने स्वामी को हर जगह ढूंढ़ा, लेकिन वो उसके हाथ नहीं आये. एक दिन जहाँ वो रह रहे थे, दरवाज़े की घंटी बजी.
उनके दोस्त ने बताया कि आरएसएस के कोई साहब आपसे मिलने आए हैं.
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उन्होंने स्वामी को संदेश दिया कि अंडरग्राउंड चल रहे जनसंघ के बड़े नेता नानाजी देशमुख उनसे मिलना चाहते हैं.
वो उसी आरएसएस कार्यकर्ता के स्कूटर पर बैठकर राजेंद्र नगर के एक घर पहुंचे जहाँ नानाजी देशमुख उनका इंतज़ार कर रहे थे.
नानाजी ने उनसे मज़ाक किया, "डॉक्टर क्या अब तुम अमरीका भाग जाना नहीं चाहते?"
डॉक्टर स्वामी भारत आने से पहले हॉर्वर्ड विश्वविद्यालय में एसोसिएट प्रोफ़ेसर हुआ करते थे और उन्होंने नोबेल पुरस्कार विजेता अर्थशास्त्री पॉल सैमुअलसन के साथ एक शोध पत्र पर काम किया था.

सिख का वेश बनाया

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सिख के वेश में सुब्रमण्यम स्वामी.
इसके बाद स्वामी और नानाजी अक्सर मिलने लगे. इस बीच स्वामी ने पगड़ी और कड़ा पहन कर एक सिख का वेश धारण कर लिया ताकि पुलिस उन्हें पहचान न सके. उनका अधिकतर समय गुजरात और तमिलनाडु में बीता, क्योंकि वहाँ कांग्रेस का शासन नहीं था.
गुजरात में स्वामी वहाँ के मंत्री मकरंद देसाई के घर रुका करते थे. उन दिनों आरएसएस की तरफ़ से एक व्यक्ति उन्हें देसाई के घर छोड़ने आया करता था. उस शख़्स का नाम था नरेंद्र मोदी, जो चार दशक बाद भारत के प्रधानमंत्री बने.
इस बीच आरएसएस ने ये तय किया कि स्वामी को आपातकाल के ख़िलाफ़ प्रचार करने के लिए विदेश भेजा जाए. अमरीका और ब्रिटेन में स्वामी के बहुत संपर्क थे, क्योंकि वो पहले वहाँ रह चुके थे.

लंदन में बीके नेहरू से मुलाक़ात

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बीबीसी स्टूडियो में रेहान फ़ज़ल के साथ सुब्रमण्यम स्वामी.
स्वामी ने मद्रास से कोलंबो की फ़्लाइट पकड़ी और फिर वहाँ से दूसरा जहाज़ पकड़कर लंदन पहुंचे. लंदन में स्वामी के पास ब्रिटेन में उस समय भारत के उच्चायुक्त बीके नेहरू का फ़ोन आया.
उन्होंने स्वामी को मिलने अपने दफ़्तर बुलाया. स्वामी वहाँ जाने में झिझक रहे थे क्योंकि उन्हें डर था कि नेहरू उन्हें गिरफ़्तार करवा देंगे. बहरहाल उनकी नेहरू से मुलाकात हुई और उन्होंने सलाह दी कि वो भारत वापस जाकर आत्मसमर्पण कर दें.
दो दिन बाद ही स्वामी के पास फ़ोन आया कि उनका पासपोर्ट रद्द कर दिया गया है. जब स्वामी अमरीका पहुंचे तो भारतीय अधिकारियों ने अमरीका पर दबाव बनाया कि स्वामी को उन्हें सौंप दिया जाए क्योंकि वो भारत से भागे हुए हैं और उनका पासपोर्ट रद्द किया जा चुका है.

किसिंजर से सिफ़ारिश

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अमरीकी राष्ट्रपति गेरॉल्ड फोर्ड के साथ विदेश मंत्री हेनरी किसिंजर
लेकिन इस बीच स्वामी के हार्वर्ड के कुछ प्रोफ़ेसर दोस्त अमरीका के विदेश मंत्री हेनरी किसिंजर से उनकी सिफ़ारिश कर चुके थे.
अमरीका ने भारतीय अधिकारियों से कहा कि भारत ये दावा ज़रूर कर रहा है कि स्वामी का पोसपोर्ट रद्द कर दिया गया है. लेकिन उनके पासपोर्ट पर इसकी मोहर कहीं नहीं लगी है और अमरीकी सरकार भारत के लिए पुलिस की भूमिका नहीं निभा सकती.
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हारवर्ड यूनिवर्सिटी में गणित की क्लास लेते सुब्रमण्यम स्वामी.
स्वामी अमरीका में कई महीनों तक रहे और वहाँ के 24 राज्यों में जाकर उन्होंने आपातकाल के ख़िलाफ़ प्रचार किया.

पुलिस का क़हर

इस बीच प्रवर्तन निदेशालय के लोगों ने स्वामी के दिल्ली के ग्रेटर कैलाश स्थित निवास और उनके ससुर जमशेद कापड़िया के मुंबई के नेपियन सी रोड वाले मकान पर दबिश दी.
रिटायर्ड आईसीएस ऑफ़िसर कापड़िया के लिए ये बहुत बड़ा धक्का था कि छोटे मोटे अफ़सर न सिर्फ़ उनसे अनाप-शनाप सवाल पूछकर उन्हें तंग कर रहे थे बल्कि बहुत बेअदबी से भी पेश आ रहे थे.
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बीबीसी स्टूडियो में रेहान फ़ज़ल के साथ सुब्रमण्यम स्वामी की पत्नी रौक्शना स्वामी.
स्वामी की पत्नी रौक्शना बताती हैं कि उनके घर की एक-एक चीज़ ज़ब्त कर ली गई. कार, एयरकंडीशनर, फर्नीचर सभी पुलिस ले गई. वो मकान पर भी ताला लगाना चाहते थे, लेकिन घर रौक्शना के नाम था.
उनके दोस्त अहबाबों ने उनसे मिलना छोड़ दिया. जो भी उनसे मिलने आता, उसके घर रेड हो जाती और जिनसे ये लोग मिलने जाते, उनके पीछे भी पुलिस वाले लग जाते.
इस बीच स्वामी के मन में आ रहा था कि वो ऐसा कुछ करें जिससे पूरे देश में तहलका मच जाए. संसद का कानून है कि अगर कोई सांसद बिना अनुमति के लगातार 60 दिनों तक अनुपस्थित रहता है तो उसकी सदस्यता अपने आप निरस्त हो जाती है.
स्वामी ने तय किया कि वो भारत वापस लौटेंगे और राज्यसभा की उपस्थिति रजिस्टर पर दस्तख़त करेंगे. उन्होंने पैन-एम की फ़्लाइट से लंदन-बैंकॉक का हॉपिंग टिकट ख़रीदा. चूंकि वो बैंकॉक जा रहे थे, इसलिए दिल्ली उतरने वाले लोगों की सूची में उनका नाम नहीं था.

टिकट बैंकॉक का, उतरे दिल्ली में

फ़्लाइट सुबह तीन बजे दिल्ली पहुंची. स्वामी के पास एक बैग के सिवा कोई सामान नहीं था. उस ज़माने में हवाई अड्डों पर इतनी कड़ी सुरक्षा नहीं होती थी.
उन्होंने ऊंघते हुए सुरक्षा गार्ड को अपना राज्यसभा का परिचय पत्र फ़्लैश किया. उसने उन्हें सेल्यूट किया और वो बाहर आ गए. वहाँ से उन्होंने टैक्सी पकड़ी और सीधे राजदूत होटल पहुंचे.
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रौक्शना स्वामी के साथ सुब्रमण्यम स्वामी
वहाँ से उन्होंने अपनी पत्नी को एक अंग्रेज़ की आवाज़ बनाते हुए फ़ोन किया कि आपकी मौसी ने इंग्लैंड से आपके लिए एक तोहफ़ा भेजा है. इसलिए उसे लेने के लिए एक बड़ा बैग ले कर आइए. पहले से तय इस कोड का मतलब था कि वो उनके लिए सरदार की एक पगड़ी, नकली दाढ़ी और एक शर्ट पैंट लेकर पहुंच जाएं.
उनकी पत्नी रौक्शना ने ऐसा ही किया. उन्होंने अपनी पत्नी से कहा कि वो शाम को एक टेलीविज़न मकैनिक का वेश बना कर घर पर आएंगे. शाम को स्वामी ने अपने ही घर का दरवाज़ा खटखटा कर कहा कि मैं आपका टेलीविज़न ठीक करने आया हूँ.
वो अपने घर में घुसे और फिर पांच दिनों तक वहाँ से बाहर ही नहीं निकले. बाहर तैनात पुलिस को पता ही नहीं चला कि स्वामी अपने घर पहुंच चुके हैं.
इस बीच रौक्शना ये पता लगाने कई बार संसद भवन गईं कि मुख्य भवन से बाहरी गेट तक आने में कितने कदम और कितना समय लगता है. 10 अगस्त, 1976 को रौक्शना ने स्वामी को अपनी फ़िएट कार से संसद के गेट नंबर चार पर छोड़ा और चर्च ऑफ़ रेडेंप्शन के पास अपनी गाड़ी पार्क की.

'प्वाएंट ऑफ ऑर्डर'

स्वामी बिना किसा रोकटोक के संसद में घुसे. उपस्थिति रजिस्टर पर दस्तख़त किए. तभी कम्युनिस्ट सांसद इंद्रजीत गुप्त उनसे टकरा गए. उन्होंने पूछा तुम यहाँ क्या कर रहे हो?
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मोरारजी देसाई के साथ सुब्रमण्यम स्वामी
स्वामी ज़ोर से हंसे और उनका हाथ पकड़े हुए राज्यसभा में घुसे. इससे पहले रौक्शना ने आस्ट्रेलिया ब्रॉडकास्टिंग कॉरपोरेशन के संवाददाता को पहले से बता दिया था कि वो संसद में एक दिलचस्प घटना देखने के लिए मौजूद रहें.
स्वामी की टाइमिंग परफ़ेक्ट थी. उस समय राज्यसभा में दिवंगत हुए सांसदों के शोक प्रस्ताव पढ़े जा रहे थे. जैसे ही सभापति बासप्पा दानप्पा जत्ती ने अंतिम शोक प्रस्ताव पढ़ा, स्वामी तमक कर उठ खड़े हुए.
उन्होंने चिल्लाकर कहा, "प्वाएंट ऑफ़ ऑर्डर सर.... आपने दिवंगत लोगों में भारत के जनतंत्र को शामिल नहीं किया है.."पूरे कक्ष में सन्नाटा छा गया.

'बुक पब्लिश्ड'

गृहराज्य मंत्री घबरा कर मेज़ के नीचे छिपने की कोशिश करने लगे. उन्हें डर था कि स्वामी के हाथ में बम तो नहीं है.
हतप्रभ जत्ती ने स्वामी को गिरफ़्तार करने का आदेश देने की बजाए सांसदों को दिवंगत सांसदों के सम्मान में खड़े होकर दो मिनट का मौन रखने के लिए कहा.
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राजघाट पर एकजुटता की शपथ लेते जनता पार्टी के नेता.
इस अफ़रातफ़री का फ़ायदा उठाते हुए स्वामी चिल्लाए कि वो वॉक आउट कर रहे हैं. वो तेज़ कदमों से संसद भवन के बाहर आए और चर्च के पास पहुंचे जहाँ रौक्शना ने पहले से कार पार्क कर चाबी कार्पेट के नीचे रख दी थी.
वहाँ से वो कार चलाकर बिरला मंदिर गए, जहां उन्होंने कपड़े बदलकर सफेद कमीज़-पैंट पहनी और अपने सिर पर गांधी टोपी लगाई. बिरला मंदिर से वो ऑटो से स्टेशन पहुंचे और आगरा जाने वाली गाड़ी में बैठ गए.
वो मथुरा में ही उतर गए और नज़दीक के टेलीग्राफ़ ऑफ़िस से उन्होंने रौक्शना को तार भेजा, 'बुक पब्लिश्ड.'यह पहले से तय कोड था जिसका अर्थ था कि वो सुरक्षित दिल्ली से बाहर निकल गए हैं.
मथुरा से उन्होंने जीटी एक्सप्रेस पकड़ी और नागपुर उतरकर गीतांजलि एक्सप्रेस से मुंबई के लिए रवाना हो गए. तब मुंबई में वो आजकल मोदी मंत्रिमंडल में मंत्री पीयूष गोयल के पिता प्रकाश गोयल के यहाँ ठहरे थे.

नेपाल के महाराजा ने की मदद

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नेपाल के महाराजा वीरेंद्र.
कुछ दिन भूमिगत रहने के बाद स्वामी ने आरएसएस नेता भाऊराव देवरस के ज़रिए नेपाल के प्रधानमंत्री तुलसी गिरि से संपर्क किया. उन्होंने उनसे कहा कि वो नेपाल के महाराजा वीरेंद्र से मिलना चाहते हैं, जोकि हार्वर्ड के विद्यार्थी रह चुके थे.
तुलसी गिरि ने उन्हें बताया कि वो रॉयल नेपाल एयरलाइंस के ज़रिए, उन्हें काठमांडू नहीं ला सकते, क्योंकि अगर इंदिरा गाँधी को इसके बारे में पता चल गया तो वो नाराज़ हो जाएंगी.
महाराज वीरेंद्र ने उन्हें गिरि के ज़रिए संदेश भिजवाया कि अगर स्वामी किसी तरह नेपाल पहुंच जाएं तो उन्हें अमरीका भिजवाने की ज़िम्मेदारी उनकी होगी.
स्वामी गोरखपुर के रास्ते काठमांडू पहुंचे, जहाँ तुलसी गिरि ने उन्हें रॉयल नेपाल एयरलाइंस के विमान के ज़रिए बैंकॉक भेजने की व्यवस्था कराई. बैंकॉक से स्वामी ने अमरीका के लिए दूसरी फ़्लाइट पकड़ी.

शानदार घर वापसी

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इंदिरा गांधी से क्रिकेट ट्रॉफी लेते सुब्रमण्यम स्वामी.
दो महीने बाद इंदिरा गांधी ने चुनाव की घोषणा कर दी. स्वामी ने दोबारा भारत आने का फ़ैसला किया, हालांकि उनके खिलाफ़ गिरफ्तारी का वारंट बरकरार था और करीब एक दर्जन मामलों में उनका नाम था.
जब वो मुंबई के साँताक्रूज़ हवाई अड्डे पर पहुंचे तो पुलिस नें उन्हें हवाई अड्डे से बाहर नहीं आने दिया. आधे घंटे बाद दिल्ली से संदेश गया कि स्वामी के गिरफ्तार नहीं किया जाए. दो दिन बाद स्वामी राजधानी एक्सप्रेस से दिल्ली लौटे. प्लेटफॉर्म पर हज़ारों लोग उनके स्वागत में मौजूद थे. नारे लगाती भीड़ ने उन्हें ज़मीन पर पैर नहीं रखने दिया.
वो लोगों के कंधों पर बैठकर स्टेशन से बाहर आए. उनकी दो साल की बेटी और आजकल हिंदू अखबार की विदेशी मामलों की संवाददाता सुहासिनी हैदर ज़ोर-ज़ोर से रो रही थीं, क्योंकि उस शोर-शराबे के दौरान उनकी रबर की चप्पल कहीं खो गई थी.
स्वामी ने वर्ष 1977 में मुंबई से लोकसभा का चुनाव लड़ा और भारी मतों से जीत कर सदन में पहुंचे.
(बीबीसी हिन्दी के एंड्रॉएड ऐप के लिए आप यहां क्लिक कर सकते हैं. आप हमेंफ़ेसबुक और ट्विटर पर फ़ॉलो भी कर सकते हैं.)
http://www.bbc.com/hindi/india/2015/06/150626_emergency_vivechana_sdp
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NaMo mission to cherish and sustain Swarajyam 2014: Dharma Rashtram, Rashtra Abhyudayam

June 27, 2015, 6:30 pm
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NaMo like all of us is nimittamaatram. He has been the principal instrument for achieving Swarajyam 2014. He connected with the Bharatam Janam like no other politican before him in the nation's civilizational history.

NaMo has a task he is destined to perform. He should take steps to institutionalise the Swarajyam achieved in 2014 so that it will NOT be compromised by future politicians.

For achieving this institutionalisation of Swarajyam which is to instill a sense of patriotism in every Bharatiya, NaMo should set two goals for his regime for the next 4 years:

1. Minimum governance is a meaningless claptrap. Firm governance has to be ensured by enforcing the Rule of Law -- Dharma-dhamma, in the Indian civilizational tradition in all aspects of life in Bharatam. For enforcing the Rule of Law, NaMo has to do two things: a. Prosecute and punish the looters of the nation's wealth since 1947, creating a post-colonial loot larger than the colonial loot; and b. Ensure corruption-free governments in all regions of the nation, in all States whether ruled by BJP or others. The message will reach every home if relentless efforts are demonstrated to restitute kaalaadhan, which is the bane of the nation since 1947. Kaalaadhan mukt Bharat is the Mission.

2. Set a goalpost for abhyudayam of the nation. This can be achieved with economic multiplier effect if an Indian Ocean Economic Union if formed like the Eurasian Economic Union or the European Union. The Indian Ocean nations along the ocean rim are solar-powered nations. Start with the set up of a Solar-power community the way European Community was preceded by the European Iron and Steel and Coal Community and Atomic Power Community. Most of the Indian Ocean Rim nations are fed by Himalayan rivers. Start National Water Grids using the waters from the world's greatest water reservoir -- the Himalayan range which stretches from Hanoi, Vietnam to Teheran, Iran. Water management PLUS solar-power harnessing should be the key constituent missions of the United Indian Ocean States with a common MUDRA and FREE TRADE UNION OF STATES, a federating structure of the Rashtram. Abhyudaya Bharat is the mission.


So, the goals are simple and direct which should be left as NaMo's legacy after the Swarajyam 2014 milepost: Dharma rashtram. Rashtra abhyudayam of 21st century Hindu Mahasagar Parivaar.

S. Kalyanaraman
Sarasvati Research Center
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Reviving underwater excavations in Archaeological Survey of India and National Inst. of Oceanography

June 27, 2015, 6:40 pm
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Prompted by RSS, ASI to revive Dwarka, Rama Setu underwater excavations

Sunday, 28 June 2015 - 6:30am IST | 
The ministry of culture, it is learnt, has directed ASI to initiate the process of reviving its underwater archaeology department, thereby giving a fillip to the government's plans to set up mythological circuits.
  • Aerial view of Rama Setu shoals
The defunct underwater wing of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is set for a revival with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the government keen to establish the scientific veracity of Dwarka, the mythological submerged capital of Lord Krishna's kingdom, and the Rama Setu, a set of limestone shoals believed to date back to the Ramayana.
The ministry of culture, it is learnt, has directed ASI to initiate the process of reviving its underwater archaeology department, thereby giving a fillip to the government's plans to set up mythological circuits.
Interestingly, the ASI currently does not have any expertise to conduct underwater excavations. Though a department exists on paper, ASI has neither the required equipment nor the skill-sets to excavate deep in the sea.
ASI has now initiated the exercise in collaboration with National Institute of Oceanography, Goa to set up its underwater centre. ASI will also be training archaeologists and sea divers to conduct the study and establish their links.
But the plans are on to fill up the lacuna. ASI has now initiated the exercise in collaboration with National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, to set up its underwater centre. Archaeologists and sea divers will be trained to conduct the studies.
"The National Institute of Oceanography has the expertise. They will be training our fleet of young divers," said Dr RS Fonia, ASI joint director general.
The ministry of culture, the nodal ministry for ASI, is also looking at options to bring on board international experts from the field of ocean archaeology. "The government wants to clear all doubts and settle all debates about the existence of Dwarka and Rama Setu. The two sites will be a part of the Rama Circuit and the Krishna Circuit being proposed by ministry of tourism," said an official of the ministry. Besides the Rama and Krishna, developing tourism around Lord Buddha and Sufi shrines are also in the pipeline.
Both Dwarka and Rama Setu have a deep connect with Hindu mythology. While the submerged city of Dwarka in the west is believed by some to be the lost city of Krishna, Rama Setu, or Adam's Bridge, the limestone shoals from Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu to the northern coast of Sri Lanka, is taken by a section of Hindu devotees to be the bridge that Rama crossed to bring Sita back from the clutches of the demon king Ravana. With one site recalling the Mahabharata and the other the Ramayana, the RSS would like to make them part of the Rama, Krishna circuits being developed by the ministry of tourism.
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-prompted-by-rss-asi-to-revive-dwarka-rama-setu-underwater-excavations-2099543
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ताम्र-पट्टी on Bharhut frieze on a coping rail: tāmrapaṭṭI 'copper-town, copper-city'. Metalwork catalog continuum on Indian sprachbund sculptures

June 27, 2015, 8:22 pm
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Mirror: http://tinyurl.com/olk56wz

Indus Script Corpora has been demonstrated to be a catalogum catalogorum of metalwork. This writing, engraving tradition continues in the Indian sprachbund sculptural messages of sites such as Bharhut, Mathura, Besanagara, Kaushambi. Hieroglyphs in rebus-metonymy-layered Meluhha cipher can be identified in the sculptures of stupa, temples and other monuments, thus restating the Art history of Bharatam Janam. The artisans who created the metalwork and related catalogues of Indus Script Corpora continued the tradition by creating hieroglyphs on sculptures conveying messages of metalwork which continued in the historical periods from c. 5th century BCE, evidenced by Begram ivories and Bharhut-Besanagar architectural, art-history marvels.

tāmrapaṭṭī ताम्र-पट्टी, 'copper-city, copper-town': Bharhut भरहुत), Besanagara बेसनगर 

The centre-piece of the Bharhut frieze on a coping rail is a fillet flanked by lotus flowers and srivatsa hieroglyph multiplex. The centre-piece is a rectangular piece or plate connected to a thread, not unlike the fillet (with a dotted circle) shown on the foreheads of Priests of Mohenjo-daro metalwork guild. Since the three lotus flowers are: tAmara, the rebus reading of the flowers is: tAmra 'copper'. Nestled within the three lotus design is the tāmrapaṭṭa 'copper plate' fillet. In Indian sprachbund, tāmrapaṭṭa has a cultural connotation signifying the recognition of leadership of a guild, a tradition later applied to the anointing of kings of janapada-s. The wife of a king is referred to as पट्टः-देवी, -महिषी, -राज्ञी the principal queen, i.e. wife of a person who is anointed king with a paTTa. पट्ट [p= 579,2]  m. (fr. पत्त्र?) a slab , tablet (for painting or writing upon) MBh.(esp.) a copper plate for inscribing royal grants or orders (cf. ताम्र-) a bandage , ligature , strip , fillet (of cloth , leather &c ) MBh. Sus3r. a frontlet , turban (5 kinds , viz. those of kings , queens , princes , generals , and the प्रसाद-पट्टस् , or turban of honour ; cf. VarBr2S. xlix) , tiara , diadem MBh. Ka1v. Ra1jat. (ifc. f(आ).)  पट्टी f. a city , town (cf. निवसन). 
(Monier-Williams).पट्टकः 1 A plate of metal used for inscriptions or royal edicts. -2 A bandage. -3 A document; (also n.)
The fillet worn on these statuettes is comparable to the orthography on the Bharhut frieze. It is clearly a tAmrapaTTIka to be worn as a fillet on the forehead. The ends of the thread end up with a small cylindrical band shown at the bottom of the figure below:

In the context of the tāmrapaṭṭī ताम्र-पट्टी, the flanking srivatsa hieroglyph multiplex can be read rebus: aya'fish' rebus: aya, ayas'iron, metal'; xolA'tail' rebus: kolle'blacksmith', kol 'working in iron', kole.l'smithy'. The srivatsa is: aya kole.l'metal smithy'.

That the entire frieze is devoted to cataloguing metalwork is reinforced by the following hieroglyphs shown on adjacent frames: 1. signifying metal ingot (ox-hide type); and 2. blacksmith at work in a smithy


Thus, the frieze hieroglyph multiplex frame sends a clear message: aya kole.l 'metal smithy', tAmra 'lotus' rebus: tAmra 'copper'; tāmrapaṭṭī 'copper-city, copper-town'.

Section of a coping rail. 30.5x122 cm. 2nd cent. BCE Sunga. Bharhut. The Indian sculptural tradition, which began during the Indus Valley period, continued to flourish under the patronage of the early historical dynasties and is closely associated with the development of Buddhism. The major Buddhist monument of the Shunga dynasty was the Bharhut stupa in Madhya Pradesh. Although it did not survive to our time, many sculptural fragments from Bharhut exist in different collections around the world, among which the Indian Museum in Calcutta is the leader. The Cleveland Museum of Art has two sculptures from Bharhut, this section of a stupa's coping rail and a crossbar decorated with a lotus medallion on each side.The winding lotus stalk divides the central portion of the coping into compartments that alternate everyday genre scenes with representation of jewels. The stalk symbolizes a wish-fulfilling creeper (kalpa-lata or kalpa-vrksa), and the jewels are the auspicious symbol of abundance and wealth. The necklace on the left is of particular interest and consists of a large bead with two side pendants. The plain center bead is flanked by two side pendants in the form of triratna (three-jewels), a very popular early Buddhist symbol. The second jewel, on the right, is a regular five-string bead necklace.The genre scenes, from left to right, show a man beside an architectural enclosure trying to catch a small animal climbing the lotus stalk. The second scene shows a man (sadhu or ascetic type, with an elaborate coiffure of matted hair) seated beside a wood hut. He attends a fire at an open hearth, surrounded by the baskets of chapati(s) (bread pancakes) that he is baking. It should be remembered that this early phase of Buddhism, frequently referred to as "anicomic," predates the representations of Buddha in anthropomorphic from and employs the language of various symbols and scenes based on daily life.The frieze below the center section of the coping is decorated with a row of bells suspended from crossed chains--a motif typical of Bharhut. The upper portion of the coping,now missing, was almost certainly decorated with a frieze of a step-merlon pattern alternating with a stylized palm tree--another standard motif on Bharhut copings.The style of sculpture is characteristic of Bharhut: a relatively deep relief, but on oneplane, without graduation in depth. The figures are charmingly naive, wear minimal clothing, and are adorned with heavy jewelry, turbans, or hairdos. Their gestures are somewhat angular yet successfully convey movement. It is obvious that the artist tookgreat delight in their portrayal. CMA 1972.366
Kushan, late 2nd cent. Overall 80cm. Railing pillar. CMA 1971:34 Contemporary to the Gandhara style in the north was the indigenous school of sculpture that flourished in the Ganges Valley known, after its main center, as the Mathura style. It continued earlier Maurya and Shunga traditions but remained under the control of the same Kushana dynasty that was responsible for the Gandhara style.This double-faced corner railing pillar from a Buddhist stupa provides a spectacular example of the Mathura school. It belongs to the category of madhupana (bacchanalian sculptures). Libation scenes such as this, which owe a great deal to Hellenistic influence, were popular in Kushana times.The center portion of the pillar is decorated with two scenes, each showing two young women. The first pair play the pan pipes and the clapper; one of the women in the second pair coquettishly lifts her robe, while the other balances a cup on her head. They seem to be intoxicated and dancing. On the ground is a large vase with two handles of the Hellenistic kantharos type associated with the Greek Dionysos or the Roman Bacchus, the youthful god of wine, appropriate to the libation taking place. Similar vessels of Hellenistic inspiration, including a partially broken rhyton, are also visible on the ground in the first scene. In the upper register are busts of celestial musicians among grapevine foliage, further bacchic connotations. The instruments the celestial musicians play include a lyre (kacchapi), castanets (similar to the modern North Indian manjira), and a triangular harp (trigonus).The base is decorated with two scenes set against a rock background: the first one shows a hunchbacked woman pouring a drink for a corpulent yaksha (nature spirit), and the second one probably illustrates the ogress Jataka (padakusala-manava jataka), who ate her victims. She fell in love with a handsome young brahmin, whom she chose for her husband but kept him imprisoned. Out of this relationship a bodhisattva was born who eventually rescued his father.The most unusual feature of this relief is the obvious blend of Hellenistic elements with indigenous Mathura characteristics. The costumes, the treatment of the drapery, the presence of Hellenistic vessels, and the foreign musical instruments-- not to mention the presence of the grapevine, which was cultivated only along the northern frontiers of India where the climate permitted it--all indicate strong Gandharan influence. Yet the very material of which the pillar is made, red Sikri sandstone, suggests a Mathura atelier as the workshop. Thus, one is inclined to think that it was the work of a Mathura artist familiar with Gandhara style.The unusual mingling of the two traditions can be traced to the classical subject that involves the cult of Dionysos, expressed here by voluptuous Indian bacchantes. Like Dionysos and his entourage, the Indian Kubera with his yakshas and yakshis derived from ancient folklore and essentially represented demigods of all "wet and gleaming" nature: rain, dew, sap, blood, semen, and spirituous liquor. It seems most probable that the Mathura sculptor who executed this work used Gandharan imagery in order to depict more authentically the exotic yaksha paradise far away among the snowy peaks of the northwest where grapevines flourished.

Head of Vishnu, Besnagar. CMA 1969.57 Vedic Hinduism, formulated in India in the second millennium BC, provided the foundations for the Buddhist faith that dominated the early centuries of Indian art. Hinduism regained its prominence again during the medieval period. The Gupta age marks thetime of that transition when Buddhism was still at its height and Hinduism made its spectacular reappearance for the first time.The monumental head seen here provides a magnificent example of the sculpture of this early Hindu revival. The heavy squarishcrown (karandamakuta) with ribbons on the side and a lion's face (simhamukha) in the center of a lotus medallion is typical for the gods Vishnu or Surya. It is not possible to determine which is depicted as nothing from the body of the image survives to provide positive identification. These deities are closely related, however, with Surya being frequently considered an emanation of Vishnu. The hair is rolled up at the back and strings of pearls are twisted around it.While the oval face with almond-shapedeyes, straight nose, and sensuous lips introduces a new Gupta idiom, the head still retains enough Kushana characteristics to allow dating it to the early Gupta period. Furthermore, the relief of Vishnu from cave 6 in Udayagiri in the Vidisa District of Madhya Pradesh, dated by the inscription to AD 401, displays close stylistic relations with this sculpture. The head reportedly came from the Triveni temple at Besnagar situated in the Vidisa District, not far from Udayagiri.The inspiring spiritual expression of the face characterizes Gupta sculpture. It is achieved by the same means evident in the head of Buddha (1963.504) where the subtle smile lightens the face, conveying a feeling of peace and compassion.
Vidisha. 4th cent.

Allahabad Museum, Allahabad  Terracotta. Standing male figure wearing a dhoti. His right hand is raised in abhayamudra while in the left there is a spear-like object. Body of one more figure is visible on the right side. He wears a thick necklace.Bhita, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. Kaushambi, U.P C.1st-3rd Century CE Kusana 26.5 x 14 x 5.5 cm c. 2nd cent. BCE to 2nd cent. CE?

Human headed animals. Allahabad Museum. Stone sculpture. Kusana. c. 1st - 3rd cent. CE 15.2 x 33.7 cm. Rectangular capital shows four human headed composite animals, seated back to back. Heads are chipped. Hieroglyph: barad, barat 'ox' Rebus: bharath 'भरत (p. 603) [ bharata ] n A factitious metal compounded of copper, pewter, tin &c. भरती (p. 603) [ bharatī ] a Composed of the metal भरत.भरताचें भांडें (p. 603) [ bharatācē mbhāṇḍēṃ ] n A vessel made of the metal भरत. 2 See भरिताचें भांडें.भरताड (p. 603) [ bharatāḍa ] f (भरणें) A body (of ships, carts, beasts) coming in loaded with stores or supplies: also such goods, imports. 2 Loaded or filled state (of ships, vehicles, animals, bags, vessels). 3 The loaded or ascending string of pitchers of a water wheel: as opp. to रिताड.(Marathi)


Incidents From the Life of the Buddha  Allahabad Museum, Allahabad. Gandhara, Kusana C.2nd Century CE
Dimensions19 x 66 cm
Detailed DescriptionGrey schist stone relief slab showing Buddha's life scenes. The rectangular slab has been divided in three panels with Corinthian pillars. First panel shows Buddha seated in abhaya-mudra. Two monks along with two monkeys holding bowls are standing either side. In next panel, Buddha is busy in talks with some persons. The last panel is similar to the first one with a little variation.
Brief DescriptionGrey schist stone relief slab showing Buddha's life scenes.




TitlePlaque showing the image of standing Suparna
Museum NameNational Museum, New Delhi
Gallery NameArchaeology
Object TypeArchaeology
Main MaterialTerracotta
CountryIndia
Origin PlaceSirsa area (Haryana)
Patron/DynastyGupta
Period / Year of Work5th century CE
DimensionsHt. 25 cm Wd. 32.5 cm
Brief DescriptionA large terracotta plaque showing the image of standing Suparna. Her hair is combed backward and tassels of which falls on either sides of the head. There are two circular ringlets on either side of the forehead and in between is a jewel. The eyebrows are marked with curved incised lines, circular protruding eye-balls, two large curved wings emerging from the chest and incised with lines. Navel and vagina are also indicated with deep incised lines . The right side depicts a pillar with rectangular base and top carved with incised lines. The plaque is broken and lost on the top right corner.

Rebus readings: eraka 'wing' Rebus: eraka 'moltencast metal'; kola 'woman' Rebus: kol 'working in iron'; kole.l 'smithy'.


TitleFragment of a Railing Post with an Acrobatic Scene
Title2Fragment of a Railing Post with an Acrobatic Scene
Museum NameAllahabad Museum, Allahabad
Gallery NameEarly Sculpture
Object TypeSculpture
Main MaterialStone
Component Material IIStone
Component Material IIIStone
Manufacturing TechniqueChisiling and Carving
Main ArtistNot Known
Artist's NationalityIndian
Artist's Life Date / Bio DataNot Known
AuthorNA
CountryIndia
ProvenanceBharhut, Satna, Madhya Pradesh.
Origin PlaceBharhut, Satna, Madhya Pradesh.
Find PlaceBharhut, Satna, Madhya Pradesh.
ScribeNA
StyleShunga
SchoolNA
Patron/DynastyShunga
Period / Year of WorkC.2nd century BCE
InscriptionAn inscription " Pusadataye nagribosa bhibuniye...(Gift) of nun Pusyadatta of Nagarika(?)" engraved towards left side of it.
TribeNA
CostumeNA
CultureNA
Dimensions120 x 54.5 cm
Detailed DescriptionAlthough the lower half of the post is missing, enough of the central medallion remains for us to discern a human pyramid, composed of four tiers of men, the topmost figure and the two supporting him being carved outside the medallion. On either side are Yaksa and Yaksi figures on a lotus. Above is a lotus lunate, surmounted by a band of honeysuckle flowers resting on their sides.
Brief DescriptionAn acrobatic scene has been carved on the border pillar showing in low relief. Eight people are standing at lowermost side supporting to four people standing over them. These four people are supporting to other two persons in the same manner. There stands a person on top supported by these two people. They all wear the same dress and ornaments. Two human figures are standing on either side of this human hill.

The narrative is to get to the over-flowing pot hanging from the railing toraNa: lo 'overflow' rebus: loh 'copper, metal' kaNDa 'pot' rebus: kANDa 'water', thus overflowing water from pot read rebus as: lokhaNDA 'metalware, tools, pots and pans.

Fragment of a Railing post Allahabad Museum, Allahabad Bharhut, Satna, Madhya Pradesh Shunga  C.2nd century BCE 47.5 x 34.5 x 17 cm The lotus plant that fills the lunate consists of a central flower flanked by buds and half-open blossoms, all issuing from a large leaf at the base. A goose is also perched on either side. The band above is decorated with a vine motif.Top of the fragmented pillar showing a wine creeper on upper most part, below which inside a semi-circular panel a complete lotus plant is shown. A goose from either side approaches the flowers. http://museumsofindia.gov.in/repository/record/alh_ald-AM-SCL-6-179 tAmara 'lotus' rebus: tAmra 'copper'.  karandava [ kârandava ] m. kind of duck, goose. rebus: karaḍa ‘hard alloy’ (Marathi)

Fragment of a plaque depicting the bust of a lady holding a pillar with her left hand. She wears a pagree (head dress) on her head. A square pendent of her necklace is seen above her breasts. 6.2 X 4.5 cm.Shunga C.2nd Century BCEKaushambi, Uttar Pradesh Allahabad Museum, Allahabad Moulded terracotta. http://museumsofindia.gov.in/repository/record/alh_ald-AM-TC-K2501-434 Hieroglyph: Ox-hide ingot on the chest: dhALako 'ingot'; tAmra 'lotus' rebus: tAmra 'copper'. Thus tAmra dhALako 'copper ingot' of kola 'woman' rebus: kolle 'blacksmith'

The plaque depicting a female figure wearing a tapering high cap. She clings to a pillar kept on her left side. The lower parts from the waist has been lost. Right hand bent above. Face is damaged. Shunga C.2nd Century BCE Kaushambi, Uttar Pradesh Allahabad Museum, Allahabad Moulded  9.5x5.5 cm. terracotta. http://museumsofindia.gov.in/repository/record/alh_ald-AM-TC-K3260-387

Railing Pillar showing a standing Yaksha figure, who holds a lotus flower in his left hand. Allahabad Museum, Allahabad Kausambi, Uttar Pradesh. Shunga C.2nd century BCE tAmra 'lotus' rebus: tAmra 'copper'. tAmrakara 'coppersmith' tamheṛā ʻ brassfounder ʼ [See glosses of Indian sprachbund annexed]

Railing Pillar, on which a yaksha is shown standing on the back of crocodile. Three mortices are present on the adjoining sides.Allahabad Museum, Allahabad Kausambi, Uttar Pradesh. Shunga C.2nd century BCE. karA 'crocodile' rebus: khAr 'blacksmith'

Railing Pillar showing standing figure of a yaksha holding a garland of beads. His hairs are supported by a fillet to which three leaves are stuck. Allahabad Museum, Allahabad Bhita, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh.ShungaC.2nd Century BCE 58 x 21 x 14.5 cm (out side pedestal) The figure has a full belly; the lower garment is decorated with small incised circles and is secured around the waist by the two ends of the cloth tied in a knot visible over the left leg. The bracelets consist of two rows of heavy beads, and the Yaksa holds the ends of a triple-stranded necklace in his two upraised hands as though about to wear it around his neck. The earrings are unusual and appear simply to be stalks passed through the earlobes. The head-dress consists of a fillet with three projecting plumes. The face is full, with narrow slanting eyes; the nose is broad, and the lips are thick. The entire physiognomy is reminiscent of the dwarf atlantes on the western gateway of Stupa I at Sanchi and on the southern gateway of Stupa III The lower portion of the pelt is missing but the tenon which held the coping in place is visible. On the sides are two sockets to receive the cross-bars of the railing. The back is plain.
http://museumsofindia.gov.in/repository/record/alh_ald-AM-SCL-56-4090 The yaksha is displaying a bead necklace. He is an artificer, seller of beads.  khoṇḍ, kõda 'young bull-calf' Rebus: kũdār 'turner'. (Signified by the one-horned young bull which is a frequently occurring hieroglyph on Indus Script Corpora).
Railing post with a lotus rhizome. Allahabad Museum. Stone. Bharhut, Madhya Pradesh.Shunga. c. 2nd cent. BCE. 43x58x25 cm. Pillar shows in the middle a lotus flower. A border of palmettes on each bevelled side. A small fragment later joined to it. tAmra 'lotus' Rebus: tAmra 'copper'





TitleSlab with line carving.
Museum NameArchaeological Survey of India, NagarjunaKonda
Gallery NameGallery-04
Object TypeSculpture
Main MaterialLime stone
ProvenanceNagarjunakonda valley, Guntur district, Andhra pradesh
Find PlaceNagarjunakonda valley, Guntur district, Andhra pradesh
StyleNagarjunakonda art.
SchoolLate phase of Amaravathi school
Patron/DynastyIkshavakus
Period / Year of WorkC. 3rd/4th century CE
Dimensions31 X 47 X 7 cms
Detailed DescriptionRoughly rectangular slab bearing the out line drawing of a Salabhanjika carved in deep incision, retrieved from excavated Site No.3 The sketch depicts a Salabhanjika with her right arm positioned on the hip and the left holding the branch of a tree. To her left is a maid with either a casket of toiletry (Prasadhana Karanda) or a pitcher of wine. The lintel over the pillar shows a lioness issuing forth from the jaws of a makara having an upturned snout. This snout is held tightly by a mischievous and impish boy. This is an excellent and rare example of a preliminary drawing(hastalekha) executed before the actual carving of a sculpture.
Brief DescriptionLime Stone - Slab with the outline drawing(sketch) of Salabhanjaka.

TitleSeated Kubera
Museum NameNational Museum, New Delhi
Gallery NameArchaeology
Object TypeArchaeology
Main MaterialStone
CountryIndia
Origin PlaceAhichchhatra, Distt. Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh
Patron/DynastyKushana
Period / Year of Work2nd Century AD
DimensionsHt. 95.2 cm. Wd. 45.7 cm.
Detailed DescriptionThis image of Kubera was discovered at Ahichchhatra, a site identified with the capital of ancient Panchala. However, stylistically one can assert that it was executed at Mathura. Sculptures of Mathura origin have been found from Taxila in the north - west and Chandraketugarh in the east, suggesting widespread acceptance of Mathura art during this period. Kubera, the god of wealth and prosperity, is the guardian of the North. His bare body is dominated by a voluminous stomach that rests against the left thigh. The corpulent divinity is seated in bhadrasana, on a high but plain pedestal. Both the arms are lost but were originally raised apart and possibly holding a deep bowl (patra), a characteristic feature of the patravahaka yaksha. This theme is reckoned with the one executed at Pitalkhora (Acc. No. 67.195). Over his short dhoti a cloth-girdle is seen running across the left knee. A fold of flesh connects the stomach to the chest, the body barely able to cope with its enormous burden. Between the gently parted lips are seen evenly arranged tooth. This portrait-Eke image bears the majestic quality of the deity of opulence. The treatment of necklace of twisted band of pearls, curled hair locks, bemused eyes and bow-like bushy moustache succeeds in typifying the images as the product of Mathura art.
Brief DescriptionSeated figure of Yaksha, probably Kubera. The god of wealth, seated at ease on a block pedestal. Both arms and right leg are missing, except for the right foot; the ears, nose, lower lip and left foot are damaged. The figure has a rotund belly and stumpy legs. The hair is arranged in curly ringlets all over the head. The eye balls are clearly engraved and the moustache well trimmed. He wears an elaborated garland round the neck with two plaited ends about the left shoulder, in front and at the back. The lower garment with drapery folds is held at the waist by a cord. He also wears a scarf. The row of peeping teeth is suggestive of an indifferent smile. Deep navel. Mottled red sand stone.


TitleYakshi
Museum NameIndian Museum, Kolkata
Gallery NameArchaeology
Object TypeSculpture
Main MaterialSand Stone
CountryIndia
ProvenanceSanchi, Madhya Pradesh
Origin PlaceSanchi, Madhya Pradesh
Period / Year of WorkCa 1st century CE
DimensionsPedestal: 28x15.2cm.; Top: 50.8x15.2cm.
Brief DescriptionThe bracket figure represents a yakshi standing cross legged under a sala tree holding on to the branches with her two hands. She is quite nude with the exception of a very flimsy garment, the margins of which appear below the knees and hips. The sculpture has a tenon above for fitting into another slab and has an expanded flat base, evidently serving the purpose of a pillar. The much greater breadth of the top is due to the branches reaching out over the figure beneath.







Lime stone. Stupa slab shows Agni-skanda at the bottom. Left side Bodhi tree, right side Dharma chakra, number of chatras on top. Mended.


TitleStupa-slab
Museum NameArchaeological Survey of India, NagarjunaKonda
Gallery NameGallery-02
Object TypeSculpture
Main MaterialLime stone
ProvenanceNagarjunakonda valley, Guntur district,Andhra pradesh
Find PlaceNagarjunakonda valley , Guntur district, Andhra pradesh
StyleNagarjunakonda art.
SchoolLate phase of Amaravathi school
Patron/DynastyIkshavakus
Period / Year of WorkC. 3rd/4th century CE
Dimensions115 X 90 X 15 cm
Detailed DescriptionSlab depicting a stupa without much carvings and belonging to a non-ornamental variety. The central piece shows worship of Buddha in the symbolic form as an agni-stambha (flaming pillar) with tri-ratna at the top, all set in the background of stupa out line. On the left side is depicted a Bodhi-tree flanked by devotees and on the right side is carved dharma- chakra being worshipped. At the extreme ends are executed standing male figures in an attitude of adoration, Multiple ornate type of chhatravali is varved above the harmika. The decoration elements of the ayaka-pata are chipped off/ eroded beyond recognition.
Tree on railing. Capital of pillar. Besnagar. This is: kuṭhi-dhvaja, signifying 'smelter'. For the rebus readings of hieroglyphs on this capital pillar see:  http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/06/itihasa-of-bharatam-janam-makara-manda.html
Sculpture representing a tree (Kulpadrum or wishing-tree), from Beshnagar, Bhopal State
Sculpture representing a tree (Kalpadruma or wishing tree) from Besnagar, Bhopal State
Photograph by Beglar, Joseph David, 1875
Magical tree, Kalpadruma, Besnagar, Indian Museum, Indian Postal stamp issued in 1978

Kalpavrisha, the Wish fulfilling tree, Indian Museum, Kolkata. Sandstone. Besnagar, Madhya Pradesh, ca. 2nd cent. BCE. 172.5 cm. height. "The sculpture, possibly the capial of a pillar, represents a banyan tree, enclosed by a railing at the base and higher up by a bamboo fencin in the shape of a network. The branches of the tree bear coin purse, a conch shell, a lotus and a vase overflowing with coins."
http://museumsofindia.gov.in/repository/record/im_kol-1795-10377




Fragment of a Makara Capital Allahabad Museum, Allahabad Kaushambi, Uttar Pradesh. C.2nd Century BCE Shunga Dimensions: 00105 (1), 00105 (2)
"The animal is damaged, but was originally endowed with only two front legs. The snout is broken; the open mouth, filled with saw teeth, is bordered by ridged lips. The eyes are bulging and have thick curling eyebrows. The finlike ears are adorned with pendants, each consisting of four strands of beads held together by a rectangular plaque. The flat modeling of the curled tail, the top and side surfaces of which meet almost at right angles, are strongly reminiscent of Bharhut sculpture of the 2nd century B.C. The makara probably crowned a votive column (dhvaja stambha) before a temple or site sacred to Pradyumna, one of the Pancavrsnis. An image of the same period has also been discovered at Besnagar, ancient Vidisa."

http://museumsofindia.gov.in/repository/record/alh_ald-AM-SCL-59-3541 This is makara-dhvaja. 


TitleCasing slab showing the adoration of Stupa
Museum NameNational Museum, New Delhi
Gallery NameAnthropology
Object TypeArchaeology
Main MaterialStone
CountryIndia
Origin PlaceNagarjunakonda, Distt. Guntur, Andhra Pradesh
Patron/DynastySatavahana
Period / Year of Work2nd Century CE
DimensionsHt. 150 cm Wd.119 cm.
Brief DescriptionCasing slab showing the adoration of the Stupa by celestial beings fluttering above. The Stupa is presented in all its parts, special by the ayaka pillars, the ayaka platform projections at the cardinal points and the guardian lions of the four gateways. Over the box-shaped harmika on top of the stupa is the umbrella. There are scenes from Buddha's life and the jatakas in panels of the casing slabs suggested in miniature and rows of triratnas, purnaghatas, frieze of lions and undulating flower garlands. The motif of the garland bearers and the garland issuing from the makara mouth is shown on the coping of the rail and right in the centre facing the gateway is a panel suggesting Mandhata, the chakravarti emperor with his seven gems. Lime stone

A beautiful shrine made of Ivory and sandalwood depicting the ten avatars of Lord Vishnu.

The stupa is a traditional continuum of veneration of ancestors. It is dhatu garbha (dagoba), the earth with the minerals the very raison-d'etre of the lives of Bharatam Janam, 'metalcaster folk'.

 

 

Title
Conch shell
Museum Name
Archaeological Survey of India, NagarjunaKonda
Gallery Name
Reserve Collection - 02
Object Type
Art object
Main Material
Shell
Provenance
Nagarjunakonda valley, Guntur district, Andhra pradesh
Find Place
N XXIV, Nagarjunakonda valley, Guntur district, Andhra pradesh
Patron/Dynasty
Ikshvaku period
Period / Year of Work
C. 3rd/4th century CE
Inscription
Legend reads "Bhagavato atha bhuja samisa", exterior glaze partly oxidized.
Dimensions
23.6 cm x 13.5 cm.
Detailed Description
Conch shell used as trumpet; largest specimen from Nagarjunakonda, with an inscription which runs as "Bhagavato Athabhujasamisa" in typical Ikshavvaku characters; incised decoration depicts two columns on a terraced pedestal, one of the columns is surmounted by Chakra-capital signifyi9ng the temple of Vishnu; Chakra or wheel is eight-spoked, its circumference decorated with designs very similar to triratna motif; the other column appears to be a flag-staff; a hole is provided at the nether end of the sankha. From Sector N XXIV, Site 29 (Ashtabhujsvamin temple) from the central shrine, Ikshavaku level.
Brief Description
Inscribed conch with apertures at the vertex and the bottom; eight spokes wheel design with a central hub encased in a cuspidal design mounted over a capitalled pillar design, in parallel juxtaposition an ornate goad, both mounted over a pedestal comprising of four regular rectangular blocks. Legend reads "Bhagavato atha bhuja samisa"; exterior glaze partly oxidized.


The AMICA LIbrary. India, Rajasthan, from the Purana Mahadeva Temple, Harshagui, Sikar
The Cleveland Museum of Art  1967.202
Female Tree-Diety with Attendant 
c. 973 Sculpture-stone 54.6 cm

Nagini. Mathura, Kushan period, 1st cent. - 320 CMA 1968.104


TitleThe Bharhut gateway and railings
Museum NameIndian Museum, Kolkata
Gallery NameArchaeology
Object TypeSculpture
Main MaterialSand Stone
CountryIndia
ProvenanceBharhut, M.P
Origin PlaceBharhut, M.P
Period / Year of WorkSunga, C 2nd century BCE
DimensionsRailing ht 274 cm, Gateway ht 685 cm
Brief DescriptionThe Gateway and the Railing from Bharhut was brought to the Indian Museum by General Cunningham in 1875. The magnificent Gateway is composed of two pillars. The pillars bear lotus shaped bell capitals crowned by a set of four animals, two lions and two bulls with human face, seated back to back. The capitals support a superstructure of three carved architraves with volute ends, and between the architraves are inserted short uprights to keep them in position. The entire conception of the Railing and the Gateway strongly suggests that they must have been copied from wooden prototypes. The left pillar of the Gateway bears inscription in Brahmi character. There are also a large number of votive inscriptions engraved on the Railing recording short titles of the reliefs (Jatakas etc.) carved on it and the names of the individual donors who provided funds for the construction of the different parts. The Railings and Gateways were profusely decorated with bas-relief, which served a double purpose, namely to beautify the monument and also to inspire a deep religious feeling in the minds of the Buddhist pilgrims.

Capital on toraNa: sangin 'mollusc' rebus: sangha 'guild', sanghvi 'pilgrim'. dhammachakka 'wheel of dharma, law'. Thus, dhamma sangha 'dhamma guild temple'. Alternative: vaTTa 'wheel' Ara 'spoke', together vaTThAra 'quarter of town', i.e. guild quarter of town.
Title
Dasavatara shrine
Museum Name
National Museum, New Delhi
Gallery Name
Decorative Arts
Object Type
Decorative Art
Main Material
Ivory
Component Material II
Wood
Manufacturing Technique
Carved and painted
Country
India
Origin Place
South India
Period / Year of Work
Late 18th century CE
Dimensions
Lt. 22; Wd. 17.8; Ht. 15 cms
A magnificent example of ivory carving and painting pursuing typical South Indian idiom, this tiny shrine, full of luster and most rare, both as the art material and the quality of art, installs Lord Vishnu's ten incarnations, each on a circular double lotus seat. For properly accommodating all images the artist has manipulated the sanctum's space into four steps, the foremost accommodating four images : Rama, Balarama, Krishna and Kalki, next, three : Narsimha, man-lion incarnation, Vamana, dwarf incarnation, and Parasurama, further next, two : Kurma, tortoise incarnation and Varaha, boar incarnation, and the last, just one, Matsya, fish incarnation. This arrangement affords to them proper height perspective and full visibility. The sandal wood base of the shrine is mounted with an ivory sheet and in the background is a perforated ivory screen divided into three parts using European style pillars. Such ivory

Images as has this shrine were the specialty of ivory carvers of Trivandrum, Kerala, while screen, especially its painted form, that of Mysore artists. Maybe, the artefact is an assimilation of both. The four-armed Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, and Narsimha hold in two of them sankha - conch, and chakra - disc, while the other two are held in abhaya - the gesture of granting freedom from fear, and varada - the gesture of accomplishment. Kalki is also four-armed, though while in two of them he carries the same conch and disc in other two he is carrying sword and shield. Of other four incarnations Vamana holds an umbrella and 'kamandala' - water-pot with handle, Rama, bow and arrow, Balarama, mace and one hand held in abhaya, and Krishna, stick/ flute and conch. Except Vamana who is even without a crown figures of all them have been richly adorned. In iconography, anatomical proportions and aesthetic quality every image is outstanding.
Sources: http://museumsofindia.gov.in/repository/record/nat_del-72-251--a--5 National portal and digital repository, Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India
http://tinyurl.com/oldj5ko Cleveland Museum of Art

Annex: Indian sprachbund metalwork and related hieroglyph glosses

Hieroglyph:Lotus:  Ta. tāmarai lotus, Nelumbium speciosum; tammi lotus. Ma. tāmara id. Ka. tāmare, tāvare id. Koḍ. ta·vare id. Tu. tāmarè lotus flower, Nymphaea pubescens. Te. tāmara, tammi lotus. Pa. tāmarid. Go. (Ko.) tāmar sp. lotus; ? (SR.) dāmerā flower (Voc. 1705). Kuwi (Su.) tāmel bonḍa lotus bud; (S.) tamberi lotus. / Cf. Skt. tāmarasa- id.(DEDR 3163)

Rebus: Copper: Tamba loha: Tamba (nt.) [Sk. tāmra, orig. adj.=dark coloured, leaden; cp. Sk. adj. taŋsra id., to tama] copper ("the dark metal"); usually in combinations, signifying colour of or made of (cp. loha bronze), e. g. lākhātamba (adj.) Th 2, 440 (colour of an ox); ˚akkhin Vv 323 (timira˚) Sdhp 286; ˚nakhin J vi.290; ˚nettā (f.) ibid.; ˚bhājana DhA i.395; ˚mattika DhA iv.106; ˚vammika DhA iii.208; ˚loha PvA 95 (=loha).; Vilīna (adj.) [vi+līna, pp. of vilīyati] 1. clinging, sticking [cp. līyati 1] Vin i.209 (olīna˚ sticking all over). <-> 2. matured ("digested"? cp. vilaya) J iv.72 (nava˚gosappi freshly matured ghee); Miln 301 (phalāni ripefruit). -- 3. [cp. līyati 2] molten, i. e. refined, purified J iv.118 (tamba -- loha˚ molten or liquid -- hot copper); v. 269 (tamba -- loha˚, id.; cp. C. on p. 274; vilīnaŋ tambālohaŋ viya pakkaṭṭhitaŋ lohitaŋ pāyenti); DhsA 14 (˚suvaṇṇa).

 *tāmraghaṭa ʻ copper pot ʼ. [tāmrá -- , ghaṭa -- 1]Bi. tamheṛī ʻ round copper vessel ʼ; -- tamheṛā ʻ brassfounder ʼ der. *tamheṛ ʻ copper pot ʼ or < next?*tāmraghaṭaka ʻ copper -- worker ʼ. [tāmrá -- , ghaṭa -- 2]Bi. tamheṛā ʻ brass -- founder ʼ or der. fr. *tamheṛ see prec. (CDIAL 5782, 5783) 5781 tāmrakuṭṭa m. ʻ coppersmith ʼ R. [tāmrá -- , kuṭṭa -- ]N. tamauṭe, tamoṭe ʻ id. ʼ.Garh. ṭamoṭu ʻ coppersmith ʼ; Ko. tāmṭi. (CDIAL 5781) tāmrakāra m. ʻ coppersmith ʼ lex. [tāmrá -- , kāra -- 1]Or. tāmbarā ʻ id. ʼ.(CDIAL 5780)
tāmrapaṭṭa m. ʻ copper plate (for inscribing) ʼ Yājñ. [Cf. tāmrapattra -- . -- tāmrá -- , paṭṭa -- 1] M. tã̄boṭī f. ʻ piece of copper of shape and size of a brick ʼ.(CDIAL 5786) tāmrapattra n. ʻ copper plate (for inscribing) ʼ lex. [Cf. tāmrapaṭṭa -- . -- tāmrá -- , páttra -- ] Ku.gng. tamoti ʻ copper plate ʼ.(CDIAL 5787)


 tāmrá ʻ dark red, copper -- coloured ʼ VS., n. ʻ copper ʼ Kauś., tāmraka -- n. Yājñ. [Cf. tamrá -- . -- √tam?]Pa. tamba -- ʻ red ʼ, n. ʻ copper ʼ, Pk. taṁba -- adj. and n.; Dm. trāmba -- ʻ red ʼ (in trāmba -- lac̣uk ʻ raspberry ʼ NTS xii 192); Bshk. lām ʻ copper, piece of bad pine -- wood (< ʻ *red wood ʼ?); Phal. tāmba ʻ copper ʼ (→ Sh.koh. tāmbā), K. trām m. (→ Sh.gil. gur. trām m.), S. ṭrāmo m., L. trāmā, (Ju.) tarāmã̄ m., P. tāmbā m., WPah. bhad. ṭḷām n., kiũth. cāmbā, sod. cambo, jaun. tã̄bō, Ku. N. tāmo (pl. ʻ young bamboo shoots ʼ), A. tām, B. tã̄bā, tāmā, Or. tambā, Bi tã̄bā, Mth. tām, tāmā, Bhoj. tāmā, H. tām in cmpds., tã̄bā, tāmā m., G. trã̄bũ, tã̄bũ n.;M. tã̄bẽ n. ʻ copper ʼ, tã̄b f. ʻ rust, redness of sky ʼ; Ko. tāmbe n. ʻ copper ʼ; Si. tam̆ba adj. ʻ reddish ʼ, sb. ʻ copper ʼ, (SigGr) tam, tama. -- Ext. -- ira -- : Pk. taṁbira -- ʻ coppercoloured, red ʼ, L. tāmrā ʻ copper -- coloured (of pigeons) ʼ; -- with -- ḍa -- : S. ṭrāmiṛo m. ʻ a kind of cooking pot ʼ, ṭrāmiṛī ʻ sunburnt, red with anger ʼ, f. ʻ copper pot ʼ; Bhoj. tāmrā ʻ copper vessel ʼ; H. tã̄bṛā, tāmṛā ʻ coppercoloured, dark red ʼ, m. ʻ stone resembling a ruby ʼ; G. tã̄baṛ n., trã̄bṛī, tã̄bṛīf. ʻ copper pot ʼ; OM. tāṁbaḍā ʻ red ʼ. -- X trápu -- q.v. tāmrá -- [< IE. *tomró -- T. Burrow BSOAS xxxviii 65]
S.kcch. trāmo, tām(b)o m. ʻ copper ʼ, trāmbhyo m. ʻ an old copper coin ʼ; WPah.kc. cambo m. ʻ copper ʼ, J. cāmbā m., kṭg. (kc.) tambɔ m. (← P. or H. Him.I 89), Garh. tāmu, tã̄bu.(CDIAL 5779)

paṭṭa 7699 paṭṭa1 m. ʻ slab, tablet ʼ MBh., °ṭaka -- m., °ṭikā -- f. Kathās. [Derivation as MIA. form of páttra -- (EWA ii 192), though very doubtful, does receive support from Dard. *paṭṭa -- ʻ leaf ʼ and meaning ʻ metal plate ʼ of several NIA. forms of páttra -- ]Pa. paṭṭa -- m. ʻ slab, tablet ʼ; Pk. paṭṭa -- , °ṭaya -- m., °ṭiyā<-> f. ʻ slab of stone, board ʼ; NiDoc. paṭami loc. sg., paṭi ʻ tablet ʼ; K. paṭa m. ʻ slab, tablet, metal plate ʼ, poṭu m. ʻ flat board, leaf of door, etc. ʼ,püṭü f. ʻ plank ʼ, paṭürü f. ʻ plank over a watercourse ʼ (< -- aḍikā -- ); S. paṭo m. ʻ strip of paper ʼ, °ṭi f. ʻ boat's landing plank ʼ, °ṭī f. ʻ board to write on, rafter ʼ; L. paṭṭ m. ʻ thigh ʼ, f. ʻ beam ʼ, paṭṭā m. ʻ lease ʼ, °ṭī f. ʻ narrow strip of level ground ʼ; P. paṭṭ m. ʻ sandy plain ʼ, °ṭā m. ʻ board, title deed to land ʼ, °ṭī f. ʻ writing board ʼ; WPah.bhal. paṭṭ m. ʻ thigh ʼ, °ṭo m. ʻ central beam of house ʼ; Ku. pāṭo ʻ millstone ʼ, °ṭī ʻ board, writing board ʼ; N. pāṭo ʻ strip, plot of land, side ʼ, °ṭi ʻ tablet, slate, inn ʼ; A. pāṭ ʻ board ʼ, paṭā ʻ stone slab for grinding on ʼ; B. pāṭ, °ṭā ʻ board, bench, stool, throne ʼ, °ṭi ʻ anything flat, rafter ʼ; Or. pāṭa ʻ plain, throne ʼ, °ṭi, paṭā ʻ wooden plank, metal plate ʼ; Bi. pāṭ ʻ wedge fixing beam to body of plough, washing board ʼ, °ṭī ʻ side -- piece of bed, stone to grind spices on ʼ, (Gaya) paṭṭāʻ wedge ʼ; Mth. pāṭ ʻ end of handle of mattock projecting beyond blade ʼ, °ṭā ʻ wedge for beam of plough ʼ; OAw. pāṭa m. ʻ plank, seat ʼ; H. pāṭ, °ṭā m. ʻ slab, plank ʼ, °ṭī ʻ side -- piece of bed ʼ, paṭṭā m. ʻ board on which to sit while eating ʼ; OMarw. pāṭī f. ʻ plank ʼ; OG. pāṭīuṁ n. ʻ plank ʼ, pāṭalaü m. ʻ dining stool ʼ; G. pāṭ f., pāṭlɔ m. ʻ bench ʼ, pāṭɔ m. ʻ grinding stone ʼ, °ṭiyũ n. ʻ plank ʼ, °ṭṛɔ m., °ṭṛī f. ʻ beam ʼ; M. pāṭ m. ʻ bench ʼ, °ṭā m. ʻ grinding stone, tableland ʼ, °ṭī f. ʻ writing board ʼ; Si. paṭa ʻ metal plate, slab ʼ. -- Deriv.: N. paṭāunu ʻ to spread out ʼ; H. pāṭnā ʻ to roof ʼ.WPah.kṭg. pāṭ m. ʻ mill -- stone ʼ (poss. Wkc. pāṭ m. ʻ female genitals ʼ, paṭṭɔ m. ʻ buttocks, back ʼ; bhal. paṭṭ m. ʻ thigh ʼ Him.I 110); kṭg. paṭḷɔ m. ʻ small wooden stool ʼ.

72 Ta. aṭi foot, footprint, base, bottom, source, origin; aṭimai slavery, servitude, slave, servant, devotee; aṭitti, aṭicci maidservant; aṭiyavaṉ, aṭiyāṉ, aṭiyōṉ slave, devotee. Ma. aṭi sole of foot, footstep, measure of foot, bottom, base; aṭima slavery, slave, feudal dependency; aṭiyān slave, servant; fem. aṭiyātti. Ko. aṛy foot (measure); ac place below; acgaṛ place beneath an object, position after the first in a row; ac mog younger son. To. oṛy foot. Ka. aḍi foot, measure of foot, step, pace, base, bottom, under; aḍime slavery; aḍiya slave. Koḍ. aḍi place below, down. Tu. aḍi bottom, base; kār aḍi footsole, footstep; aḍi kai palm of the hand. Te. aḍugu foot, footstep, footprint, step, pace, measure of a foot, bottom, basis; aḍime slavery, slave, bondman; aḍiyãḍu slave, servant; aḍi-gaṟṟa sandal, wooden shoe.Ga. (S.2) aḍugu footstep (< Te.). Go. (G.) aḍi beneath; (Mu.) aḍit below; aḍita lower; aṛke below; (Ma.) aḍita, aḍna lower; (M.) aḍ(ḍ)i below, low; (L.) aḍī down; (Ko.) aṛgi underneath; aṛgita lower (Voc. 33). Konḍa aḍgi below, underneath; aḍgiR(i) that which is underneath; aḍgiRaṇḍ from below, from the bottom.

86 Ta. aṭai prop. slight support; aṭai-kal anvil. Ma. aṭa-kkallu anvil of goldsmiths. Ko. aṛ gal small anvil. Ka. aḍe, aḍa, aḍi the piece of wood on which the five artisans put the article which they happen to operate upon, a support; aḍegal, aḍagallu, aḍigallu anvil. Tu. aṭṭè a support, stand. Te. ḍā-kali, ḍā-kallu, dā-kali, dā-gali, dāyi anvil.

3843 Ta. paṭam instep. Ma. paṭam flat part of the hand or foot. Pe. paṭa key palm of hand. Manḍ. paṭa kiy id.; paṭa kāl sole of foot. Kuwi. (Su.) paṭa naki palm of hand. 

3878 Ta. paṭṭai flatness; paṭṭam flat or level surface of anything, flat piece (as of bamboo). Ko. paṭ flatness (of piece of iron, of head); paṭm (obl. paṭt-) ground for house. To. poṭ site of dairy or house. ?Koḍ. paṭṭi space before house, spreading space; maṇa-paṭṭi sandbank. Nk. paṛ place. Pa. paḍ place, site. Pe. paṭ kapṛa top of the head. Manḍ. paṭ kapṛa id. Malt. paṭa numeral classifier of flat objects. Cf. 3843 Ta. paṭam. 

3865 Ta. paṭṭaṭai, paṭṭaṟai anvil, smithy, forge. Ka. paṭṭaḍe, paṭṭaḍi anvil, workshop. Te. paṭṭika, paṭṭeḍa anvil; paṭṭaḍa workshop. 3875 Ta. paṭṭai palmyra timber, rafter; paṭṭiyal lath, reeper. Ma. paṭṭa areca bough. Ka. paṭṭe palmyra timber, rafter, areca bough; paṭṭi piece of timber of door-frame, rafter, joist; paṭṭika board. Tu. paṭirafter. Te. paṭṭe bar or spar of wood, piece of timber of door-frame; paṭṭi plank; paṭṭika plank, board, bar of wood. Kol. paṭṭe plank. Nk. paṭi id. Pa. peṭṭi (pl. peṭkul) beam, post. Ga. (P.) paṭiya beam. Kuipaṭi beam; paṭa board. Kur. paṭṭā beam in oilmill.

పట్టిక (p. 0700) [ paṭṭika ] paṭṭika. [Skt.] n. A plate of metal, a board, a frame, the pieces of wood across a door. ఫలకము, పలక, చట్టము, రేకు, గందపట్టె. An anvil, కమ్మరివాని దాగలి. "లలాటపట్టికలబెట్టిన పట్టెవర్థనంబులు." Suca. ii. 19. పట్టికామంచము Same as పట్టెమంచము.
పట్టె (p. 0703) [ paṭṭe ] or పట్టియ paṭṭe. [Tel.] n. A spar of wood. పలక. A piece of wood that forms the frame of a cot.

Palagaṇḍa [cp. Sk. palagaṇḍa Halāyudha ii.436; BSk. palagaṇḍa AvŚ i.339; Aṣṭas. Pār. 231; Avad. Kalp. ii.113] a mason, bricklayer, plasterer M i.119; S iii.154 (the reading phala˚ is authentic, see Geiger,P.G. § 40); A iv.127.
Phalaka [fr. phal=*sphal or *sphaṭ (see phalati), lit. that which is split or cut off (cp. in same meaning "slab"); cp. Sk. sphaṭika rock -- crystal; on Prk. forms see Pischel, Prk. Gr. §206. Ved. phalaka board, phāla ploughshare; Gr. a)/spalon, spola/s, yali/s scissors; Lat. pellis & spolium; Ohg. spaltan=split, Goth, spilda writing board, tablet; Oicel. spjald board] 1. a flat piece of wood, a slab, board, plank J i.451 (a writing board, school slate); v.155 (akkhassa ph. axle board); vi.281 (dice -- board). pidhāna˚ covering board VbhA 244= Vism 261; sopāna˚ staircase, landing J i.330 (maṇi˚); Vism 313; cp. MVastu i.249;˚āsana a bench J i.199; ˚kāya a great mass of planks J ii.91. ˚atthara -- sayana a bed covered with a board (instead of a mattress) J i.304, 317; ii.68. ˚seyya id. D i.167 ("plank -- bed"). -- 2. a shield J iii.237, 271; Miln 355; DhA ii.2. <-> 3. a slip of wood or bark, used for making an ascetic's dress (˚cīra) D i.167, cp. Vin i.305. ditto for a weight to hang on the robe Vin ii.136. -- 4. a post M iii.95 (aggaḷa˚ doorpost); ThA 70 (Ap. v.17).பலகை palakai

, n. < phalaka. [K. halage] 1. Board, plank; மரப்பலகை. பொற்பலகை யேறி யினிதமர்ந்து (திருவாச. 16, 1). 2. Levelling plank; உழவிற் சமன்படுத்தும் மரம். 3. Gaming table; சூதாட உதவுவதும் கோடுகள் வரையப் பட்டதுமான பலகை. பலகை செம்பொனாக (சீவக. 927). 4. Long shield, buckler; நெடும்பரிசை. (தொல். பொ. 67, உரை, பி-ம், பக். 209). 5. A drum; பறைவகை. வீணை பலகைதித்தி வேணுசுரம் (விறலிவிடு.). 6. Seat on an elephant's back, howdah; யானைமேற்றவிசு. (பிங்.) 7. Tablet, slate; எழுதுபலகை.

khār 1 खार् । लोहकारः m. (sg. abl. khāra 1 खार; the pl. dat. of this word is khāran 1 खारन्, which is to be distinguished from khāran 2, q.v., s.v.), a blacksmith, an iron worker (cf. bandūka-khār, p. 111b,l. 46; K.Pr. 46; H. xi, 17); a farrier (El.). This word is often a part of a name, and in such case comes at the end (W. 118) as in Wahab khār, Wahab the smith (H. ii, 12; vi, 17). khāra-basta

khāra-basta खार-बस््त । चर्मप्रसेविका f. the skin bellows of a blacksmith. -büṭhü -ब&above;ठू&below; । लोहकारभित्तिः f. the wall of a blacksmith's furnace or hearth. -bāy -बाय् । लोहकारपत्नी f. a blacksmith's wife (Gr.Gr. 34). -dŏkuru -द्वकुरु‍&below; । लोहकारायोघनः m. a blacksmith's hammer, a sledge-hammer. -gȧji -ग&above;जि&below; or -güjü -ग&above;जू&below; । लोहकारचुल्लिः f. a blacksmith's furnace or hearth. -hāl -हाल् । लोहकारकन्दुः f. (sg. dat. -höjü -हा&above;जू&below;), a blacksmith's smelting furnace; cf. hāl 5. -kūrü -कूरू‍&below; । लोहकारकन्या f. a blacksmith's daughter. -koṭu -क&above;टु&below; । लोहकारपुत्रः m. the son of a blacksmith, esp. a skilful son, who can work at the same profession. -küṭü -क&above;टू&below; । लोहकारकन्या f. a blacksmith's daughter, esp. one who has the virtues and qualities properly belonging to her father's profession or caste. -më˘ʦü 1 -म्य&above;च&dotbelow;ू&below; । लोहकारमृत्तिका f. (for 2, see [khāra 3] ), 'blacksmith's earth,' i.e. iron-ore. -nĕcyuwu -न्यचिवु&below; । लोहकारात्मजः m. a blacksmith's son. -nay -नय् । लोहकारनालिका f. (for khāranay 2, see [khārun] ), the trough into which the blacksmith allows melted iron to flow after smelting. -ʦañĕ -च्&dotbelow;ञ । लोहकारशान्ताङ्गाराः f.pl. charcoal used by blacksmiths in their furnaces. -wān वान् ।लोहकारापणः m. a blacksmith's shop, a forge, smithy (K.Pr. 3). -waṭh -वठ् । आघाताधारशिला m. (sg. dat. -waṭas -वटि), the large stone used by a blacksmith as an anvil. (Kashmiri)

S. Kalyanaraman
Sarasvati Research Center
June 28, 2015

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Emergency: JP Papers

June 27, 2015, 8:31 pm
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Jun 28 2015 : The Economic Times (Delhi)
Stone Walls do not a Prison Make
Sandhya Ravishankar


A peek into Jayaprakash Narayan's rare letters to Indira Gandhi when he was being treated in confinement during the Emergency
On a muggy overcast day in July 1975, a most important prisoner was await ed via special aircraft in Chandigarh.
Jayaprakash Narayan, better known as JP, was to arrive at the Postgradu ate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), where he would undergo treatment in the cus tody of the district collector of Chan digarh, MG Devasahayam.
“I didn't know much about JP, I thought he was a troublemaker,“ smiled Devasahayam as he reminisced about a turning point in his own life. “He was my prisoner. Only the superinten dent of police, senior doctors and I could meet him freely. Everyone else had to get my clear ance as he was a VVIP prisoner,“ he said.
JP, the David to the then prime minister Indira Gandhi's Goliath, was 73, ill and diabetic. One of Gandhi's first political rivals to be arrested after the proclamation of Emergency at midnight on June 25, 1975, JP was moved to Chandigarh within a few days for safekeeping and to ensure he caused no trouble. JP was a Gandhian, admitted ly one of the main causes for precipitating the Emergency with his massive JP movement in Bi har, demanding that the state government and the legislature resign as it had “gone corrupt“.
One ward of the PGIMER was declared as a jail with the inner periphery manned by jail officials and the outer patrolled by the police. Over a se ries of meetings with his prisoner, Devasahayam would learn to respect and admire him, later even helping save his life. “Within three weeks of his arrival in Chandigarh, JP got visibly worked up at the happenings in Delhi and elsewhere,“ said Devasahayam. “I have been privy to some rare letters written by JP to Mrs Gandhi -most of those were destroyed or lost after the Emergency but I have a few since a copy was marked to me as well at the time,“ he said.
JP's first letter to Indira Gandhi dated July 21, 1975, barely a month into Emergency, is scathing in tone and criticism. “Dear Prime Minister,“ it begins. “I am appalled at press reports of your speeches and interviews...“ (see excerpts of the letter on page 5). No response ever came from the office of the PM to this 15-page letter of anguish. “In August 1975, I was sitting down for lunch with some guests when I received a letter from JP,“ said Devasahayam. “It was another letter writ Gandhi, this time threatening ten to Mrs Ga death...,“ a fast unto death said The “ he said. Th second letter by JP was even more anguished. “I have watched with dismay and growing agony the way you have been pushing down the country ever deeper into the abyss of darkness,“ wrote JP (see the entire letter on this page).
The situation was tense. Here was an idealist, a man who would rather die than go back on his word, threatening to stop eating. The repercussions would be severe. “JP, I felt, was the only one who could get Indira Gandhi to revoke Emergency,“ said Devasahayam. “If he died, then India would be doomed to dictatorship. I realised I had to somehow convince him against doing this.“
A heated argument ensued. “I asked JP whether he had given up on the country, spoke to him at length about how the opportunity would come sometime to bring India back to normalcy... That made him think and he finally agreed that the letter would not be sent to the prime minister. I tore up that letter in front of him. Only my copy survived,“ he said. Little is known in public memory of the con ciliation process initiated by JP as early as September 1975 to try and convince the prime minis ter to revoke the Emergency. Giani Zail Singh, the then chief minister of Punjab and Sheikh Abdullah, then chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, were respected Congress leaders who were known to be close to Indira Gandhi but also disagreed with the Emergency.
“I got in touch with a common friend who took the message of conciliation to both Singh and Abdullah,“ said Devasahayam.“Subsequently Sheikh Abdullah made a statement that was reported in the press. When I brought this to JP's attention, he immediately wrote to Abdullah, requesting him to come to Chandigarh to ham mer out conciliation talks,“ he said.
Quoting from the press report in The Tribune daily, JP showers praise on Abdullah for his en couraging statements on revoking Emergency. But his criticism of the prime minister continues.“However, in spite of all that has happened and is happening, I am prepared, in the interest of our country, to seek the path of conciliation,“ wrote JP to Abdullah (see the letter on page 6).
This letter reached the Prime Minister's Office in Delhi but went no further. The first attempt at conciliation died a natural death. Several at tempts at conciliation and dialogue followed in the coming months. Indira Gandhi's principal secretary PN Dhar initiated dialogue through the then director of Varanasi's Gandhian Institute, Sougata Dasgupta. No breakthrough took place. In early November, a special package arrived from the Prime Minister's Office for the eyes of JP only. “My Chief Commissioner NP Mathur called me at night and gave me a cover addressed to JP by the Prime Minister herself,“ said Devasahayam. “JP smiled on reading it and asked me to have a look. It was a letter from senior British politician and activist Fenner Brockway addressed to JP. It was pretty much an apology on behalf of Mrs Gandhi, virtually asking JP to agree to reconciliation,“ said Devasahayam.
JP was elated that there finally was a breakthrough and was preparing to respond to the letter. His health, however, began to deteriorate suddenly and alarmingly. “Almost a week later, I asked JP whether he had written a response to Brockway's letter,“ explain Devasahayam. “He said he was unable to read or collect his thoughts. He was very unwell.“ As Devasahayam looked for Brockway's letter, it was not to be found. “That is when I realised something was very fishy and that it was no longer safe to keep JP in Chandigarh,“ said Devasahayam. “I started the process of getting him out of there.“
Taking JP Out
A plan was hatched with JP's brother Rajeshwar Prasad as well as PN Dhar's messenger Sougata Dasgupta. The theme of the plan was to be: “What if JP died?“ On November 11, 1975, Rajeshwar Prasad wrote to the prime minister stating that JP's health was in very poor condition. “I have very serious apprehensions that if his condition continues like this, he might not sur vive for more than two months,“ wrote Prasad. “...Apart from the great personal tragedy that his loss would mean to our family, it is for you to decide whether it would be in the best interest of the Government if JP dies in jail.“
On the same day Dasgupta informed the PM's principal secretary PN Dhar about JP's deterio rating health condition, bringing up the worry ing question of what would happen if he were to die as a prisoner.
“The next morning a team of doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences arrived to check on JP,“ grinned Devasahayam.“The same evening, the district magistrate of Delhi and the chief secretary of Delhi arrived by special aircraft with the orders -one of unconditional parole and another of release,“ he said.
JP accepted the unconditional parole offered to him and was sent to Delhi the next day from where he headed to Jaslok Hospital in Mumbai for treatment for a kidney ailment. JP would survive another four years on dialysis and would also be a key player in revocation of Emergency in 1977.
“I agree with BJP leader LK Advani on one thing -that the situation in the country is ripe for another Emergency,“ said Devasahayam. “Atal Bihari Vajpayee had compared JP to Bhishma Pitamah and Jesus but nothing has been done to honour the man who brought us our second freedom. Blame must go equally to Congress and the Opposition for continuing with autocratic methods post Emergency,“ he said.
“I am glad I had the opportunity to interact closely with such a man,“ signed off Devasahayam. “He used to say that I was the son he never had. There is none like JP any more.“





http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31816&articlexml=Stone-Walls-do-not-a-Prison-Make-28062015010008
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New Indian Income Tax forms Assessment Year 2015-2016

June 27, 2015, 9:14 pm
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http://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/forms/income-tax%20rules/2015/itr2_2015.pdf Indian Income Tax Return Assessment Year 2015-2016

Form No.:ITR-1 SAHAJ

ITR-1 SAHAJ

Form No.:ITR-2

ITR-2
[For Individuals and HUFs not having Income from Business or Profession (Please see Rule 12 of the Income-tax Rules,1962 Date of Birth/Formation (DD/MM/YYYY Do not write or stamp in

Form No.:ITR-2A

For Individuals and HUFs not having Income from Business orProfession and Capital Gains and who do not hold foreign assets
(Please see Rule 12 of the Income-tax Rules,1962 Date of Birth/Formation (DD/MM/YYYY Yes No. If Yes, please provide Sex (in case of individual) (Tick If filed, in response to a

Form No.:ITR-4S - SUGAM

ITR-4S - SUGAM

Form No.:Acknowledgement

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Sanskrit should be propagated to purify minds of people: Sushma, World Sanskri Conference 2015

June 28, 2015, 4:25 am
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdHtD1LTqOg Published on Jun 27, 2015
World Sanskrit Conference began at Bangkok on Sunday with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj as the guest of honour at the inaugural session.

 3 hours ago
to launch a news programme in today, Coinciding with World Sanskrit Conference, Bangkok.

Lip service to Sanskrit, no revival roadmap

Charu Sudan Kasturi | Sunday , June 28 , 2015 |

Sushma Swaraj
New Delhi, June 27: Messages in chaste Sanskrit from the Prime Minister, foreign minister and education minister at a global summit tomorrow will not be enough to convince scholar Ramesh Bhardwaj that the Narendra Modi government has what it takes to revive research in Indian classical languages.
New Delhi has thrown its diplomatic weight behind the 16th World Sanskrit Conference in Bangkok, sending the external affairs minister for the first time to the event, which begins exactly a week after the Prime Minister led International Day of Yoga celebrations from Rajpath.
But sections of India's classical language scholars fear the public diplomatic outreach may end up as little more than "tokenism" amid a persisting domestic apathy that Amartya Sen highlighted at the Jaipur Literature Festival in January 2014.

The scholars credit human resource development minister Smriti Irani, whose carefully crafted message the Bangkok organisers will read out along with one from Modi, with bringing Sanskrit back to Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan schools last year after it was displaced by German.
But a year after it assumed office, there is little other evidence that the Modi government has done much for India's classical languages, including Sanskrit, which many in the current administration claim to hold dear.

Rohan Murty
"There is no clear roadmap for Sanskrit research," Bhardwaj, head of the Sanskrit department at Delhi University, told The Telegraph. "The reason, I suspect, is that the government and its advisers are themselves not clear about what it means and what it takes to build both quality research and a pipeline of potential researchers."
Sen had called classical languages the "emotional content of a culture" and asked India's government to enhance investments into their research and into the humanities as opposed to a lopsided focus on the sciences.
Globally, countries keen on keeping their classical languages alive have adopted a three-step process: introducing these languages in schools, protecting traditional forms of learning (examples in the Indian context will be gurukuls and madarsas) and contemporary research at universities. India lags in all three processes.
Soon after coming to power in May last year, the Modi government had announced the celebration of a "Sanskrit Week" in schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education.
But scholars argue that India needs to follow the examples of some European countries and get its schools to adopt classical languages as a mandatory subject - not just in central schools, and not just as a subject of study for a week in a year.
Learning Latin is mandatory in Italian high schools, for instance, but Sanskrit is either an optional subject or not taught at all in Indian schools.
"Tell students they can choose one classical language, but then make sure they study that," Masud Anvar Alavi, head of the Arabic department at Aligarh Muslim University, told this newspaper.
"This shouldn't be looked at from the prism of religion - that Muslims should study Arabic or Persian, and Hindus Sanskrit."
Italy has a system of schooling called the Liceo Classico where Latin and ancient Greek are compulsory subjects but India lacks any organised gurukul system for Sanskrit.
The research scene is no better.
In Bangkok, India has provided the funds for a cultural event and a dinner that foreign minister Sushma Swaraj will attend with the Sanskrit scholars. But back in New Delhi, one of the country's top Sanskrit research institutions is struggling to stay afloat, stripped of funds.
The Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan was allocated zero fresh funds in the July 2014 budget, and then again in the February 2015 budget, documents show. The institution had no vice-chancellor for over a year and a half before Parameshwara Narayan Shastry, a Sanskrit scholar, was appointed in April this year.
The Indian government's apathy is thrown into sharp relief by a new focus on classical languages and literature - including India's - at foreign institutions.
Rohan Murty, son of Infosys founder N.R. Narayana Murthy, has given a $5.2-million grant to Harvard University Press to publish works in Indian classical literature in both the original language and in English.
The Murty Classical Library of India was launched in Boston this January, a spokesperson said. "The idea was to revive classics - but not focus only on Sanskrit, as can happen," Mamta Wathare said.
"I may speak Kannada, for instance, but I don't really know much about Kannada classics. Changing that is the idea."
Harvard University Press will publish fiction, non-fiction, poetry and religious texts in Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Sanskrit, Tamil, Hindi, Marathi, Persian, Arabic, Telugu, Urdu, Malayalam and Buddhist texts in Pali.
Some scholars see hope in the government's support for the Sanskrit conference and in the global renaissance in research on classical languages.
"I'm optimistic," Amarjiva Lochan, a Delhi University Sanskrit professor who is participating in the conference, said over the phone from Bangkok.
"You have never had an Indian foreign minister attending such a conference, even though it has been held for decades. And in this conference, we are treating Sanskrit like a living language."
For instance, Sushma will inaugurate the conference speaking in Sanskrit - as she had done while taking the oath of office in May 2014.
Conferences like the Bangkok summit are important for Sanskrit scholars, and must be encouraged, Bhardwaj agreed.
"And it is very good if the government supports such initiatives," he said. "What you don't want is the support reduced to tokenism. There's a lot that needs to be done."


Published: June 28, 2015 16:09 IST | Updated: June 28, 2015 16:29 IST  Bangkok, June 28, 2015

Sanskrit should be propagated to purify minds of people: Sushma



External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj meets Princess of Thailand, Maha Chakri Sirindhorn in Bangkok on Sunday.
PTI
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj meets Princess of Thailand, Maha Chakri Sirindhorn in Bangkok on Sunday.

Speaking entirely in Sanskrit, Swaraj called it a "modern and universal" language and said its tradition is comparable to the river Ganga.

Sanskrit scholars from 60 countries began a five-day conference in Bangkok on Sunday with an inaugural speech by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj who suggested that Sanskrit should be propagated so that “it purifies the minds of the people and thus sanctifies the whole world.”
Speaking entirely in Sanskrit to over 600 Sanskrit experts, Ms. Swaraj called it a “modern and universal” language and said its tradition is comparable to the river Ganga.
“The Ganga remains sacred from Gomukh, its source, to Ganga sagar where it enters the ocean. It sanctifies the tributaries, which attain the very nature of Ganga. Similar is Sanskrit; sacred by itself, it sanctifies all that come into its contact.
“Therefore, Sanskrit should be propagated so that it purifies the minds of the people and thus sanctifies the whole world. You Sanskritists do bathe in the sacred Sanskrit Ganga and are blessed,” she told the gathering.
Inaugural session of World Sanskrit Conference
Addressing the inaugural session of 16th World Sanskrit Conference in Bangkok as the Chief Guest, Ms. Swaraj also announced that a post of Joint Secretary for Sanskrit has been created in the Ministry of External Affairs.
“In the present days you are aware that scientists hold the view that Sanskrit can play an important role in developing software for language recognition, translations, cyber security and other fields of artificial intelligence,” Ms. Swaraj said.
“Knowledge in Sanskrit will go a long way in finding solutions to the contemporary problems like global warming, unsustainable consumption, civilisational clash, poverty, terrorism etc,” she said, adding a new direction and vision is needed in the field of research in Sanskrit to accomplish this task.
Citing a Sanskrit shloka, she said that narrow minded people discriminate among people considering some as theirs and some as alien, while the broad minded consider the whole universe as theirs.
Noting that today’s need is a healthy amalgamation of the ancient and modern, a meeting of the best in orient and occident, she said, “Our efforts are to be directed towards narrowing the gap between the study of Shastras and Science.”
This is for the first time that a Union Minister of her seniority has attended the World Sanskrit conference outside the country and hence it indicates the importance that the NDA government attaches to the promotion of the ancient language.
HRD Minister Smriti Irani, whose ministry is partly funding the event, will attend its closing ceremony on July 2.
The World Sanskrit Conference, which was organised first in Delhi in 1972, has been held in different countries since then. It is held once after every three years.
Of the 250 Sanskrit scholars participating from India, around 30 were from the RSS affiliate body Sanskrit Bharati this time.
Lauding Sanskrit Bharati’s role, Ms. Swaraj said that it was propagating Sanskrit by conducting conversation courses not only in India, but also in several countries world over.
“Particularly it has pioneered in introducing Sanskrit as a foreign language for students in United States of America. Its efforts are commendable,” she said.
Improve quality of Sanskrit teaching
The External Affairs Minister urged scholars to strive to improve the quality of its teaching and make it attractive.
“It is not sufficient to praise Sanskrit and detail its forte. All Sanskritists should deliberate upon what is to be done for the development of the language. Teaching of Sanskrit should be attractive, its quality should improve, and research in Sanskrit should be more functional,” she said.
Linking Sanskrit with modern subjects, developing literature on contemporary issues, a scientific study of the available texts, and such assignments are to be taken up by Sanskritists, she said.
“These tasks have to be prioritised. If you focus your discussions in this direction, it would greatly benefit the cause of Sanskrit,” Ms. Swaraj told the gathering.
She held that only a subject that addresses contemporary concerns will be accepted by people, studied and followed and then only it will be popular and relevant.
“For new inventions in science and technology fresh inputs are required. These inputs are available in Sanskrit, but inter-disciplinary research is necessary for achieving this goal. Groups of scholars in modern and ancient subjects have to work together and study Sanskrit texts scientifically.
“There should be coordinated programmes by institutions like Indian Institute of Science, IITs in collaboration with Sanskrit universities. Workshops on Sciences and Shastras and special lecture sessions have to be organised. New paths will open up by such efforts,” Ms Swaraj said.
Proclaiming that it is not mere a language but a “world view”, the Minister referred to percepts from Sanskrit, which say that universality, characterised by harmony, common welfare, and inclusiveness can only bring together the warring factions in the universe by friendly overtures.
“This concept of inclusiveness is unique to Sanskrit, it is its culture. Just as mutual trust, love, harmony, cooperation and other inclusive features are essential for an individual family, so are harmony, trust and cooperation are necessary among different nations, different societies, and different sects and traditions in the family of universe. To achieve this there is the vital necessity of the only excellent device, Sanskrit,” she said.
Ms. Swaraj said the Indian Council for Cultural Relations has decided to grant International Sanskrit Award to the scholar who has made significant contribution for Sanskrit. The award would carry with it a certificate and $20,000.
Thai Princess Mahachakri Sirindhon, herself a Sanskrit scholar, is Royal Patron of the conference.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/16th-world-sanskrit-conference-in-bangkok-sanskrit-should-be-propagated-to-purify-minds-of-people-says-sushma/article7363971.ece?homepage=true&css=print
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