Ashvamedha: Royal Horse Sacrifice

Ashvamedha, or horse sacrifice, was one of the main royal sacrifices in ancient India, performed to enhance the power and glory of the king. Naturally, it was the ambition of every king to conduct this sacrifice, though it can be performed only by the mighty monarchs. Apart from glorifying the king, the rite also was instrumental in bringing the prosperity and fertility to the kingdom.

As the name suggests, a stallion marked with king's name was set free to wander at will for a year. The rulers and the chieftains of the territories on which the horse, followed by a chosen bans of warriors, roamed had to either accept the suzerainty of the king or defeat the accompanying warriors in the battle.

When after a period of one year the horse returned to the kingdom accompanied by the kings of the territories where it entered, it was sacrificed. Sometimes scores of other animals were sacrificed with the horse. This elaborate sacrificial ritual, participated in by the priest, the king and the queen, was held at a great public ceremony characterized by celebration and feasting. During the ceremony, the queen had to spend one night near the dead horse.

The ritual has been described at great length in several texts, chief among them being the Shatapatha Brahmana, a text on sacrificial ritual. An interesting element in the rite was that during the ceremony, the queen had to spend one night beside the dead stallion.

Pushyamitra Sunga, the founder of the Sunga dynasty, performed this sacrifice after usurping the Mauryan throne signaling the restoration of the Vedic sacrificial rituals which went into disuse during the Mauryan period. Samudra Gupta and Kumara Gupta (c 415-454) of the Gupta dynasty, the golden period of Hinduism, performed this sacrifice.  Adityasena Gupta of the second Gupta dynasty performed this sacrifice in the latter half of the 7th century AD.  After the Gupta period, the horse sacrifice became rare and the last famous instance of this sacrifice was that was performed in the mighty south Indian empire of the Cholas. 

Ashvins, Vedic Twin Gods

Ashvins (horsemen) were the twin gods in the Vedic period. Also known as Nasatyas, they are described as driving across the sky in their three-wheeled golden chariot drawn by horses. The chariot was sometimes drawn by birds, buffaloes, deer, birds, or a single ass.

The state of Ashvins being twins connects them with the Greek Dioscuri and twin gods of pre-Christian Baltic mythology. Ashvins are shown as helpers of men in distress. Apart from providing artificial legs for the maimed, they had rescued shipwrecked mariners and found spouses for the old maids.

Ashvins were married to Surya, who was the sun-god’s daughter.

Sunga Dynasty

The founder of the Sunga dynasty was Pushyamitra, a Brahman general of Brihadratha, the last Mauryan emperor. The ease with which he overthrew Brihadratha by way of a palace revolution in about 183 BC is testimony to the weakness and inefficiency of the later Mauryas who were unable to repulse the foreign invasion. According to the Puranas, religious texts dating from the Gupta period onwards, the event took place in 187 BC.

Being a Brahman, Pushyamitra is credited with the restoration of the orthodox Hinduism and performed horse-sacrifice. He has been portrayed as a persecutor of the Buddhism which saw its hey-day during the Mauryan rule. However, the remains of the large Buddhist stupa at Bharhut built in the second century BC belie this.

During his reign apart from Patliputra, Vidisa emerged as another centre of power where the crown prince Agnimitra, hero of Kalidasa’s famous drama Malavikagnimitra, held his court.

Pushyamitra, who did not take regal titles, ruled for thirty-six years. After him, nine other rulers belonging to the Shunga dynasty ascended the throne. Prominent among them were Agnimitra, Vasumitra, Bhagvata and Devabhuti. Pushyamitra was succeeded by his son Agnimitra.

According to the Mālavikāgnimitram (Malavika and Agnimitra), Vasumitra defeated the Greeks. The Besanager inscription records that a Sunga king Bhagabhadra received an ambassador named Heliodorus from a Greek king of Taxila, Antialcidas.

After that power of the Sungas began to decline and the later rulers are mere names recorded. Devabhuti (83 to 73 BC) was the last ruler of Sunga dynasty. History repeated itself when he was killed by his minister Vasudeva Kanva who, like the founder of the Shunga dynasty, went on to establish a new dynasty, Kanva dynasty.

Foods in Ancient India

Today, Indian cooking offers a wide array of foods.  The incredible richness of the Indian foods is the result of thousands of years of cooking, and eating.

Foods of ancient India are as popular today but many of them as eaten today and widespread in modern Indian cooking were imported from Americas. Chili, or red pepper, so important part of South Indian cookery arrived in India only by the Portuguese from Americas after the latter’s discovery in the 15th century. Same is the case with the brinjal, potatoes, sweet corn or maize.

Fruits and sweetmeats of ancient India were similar to those of the present day but did not include some that have become widespread as Indian sweets such as the jalebi, which was imported by the Muslims. 

According to early fifth century Chinese traveler Fa-hsein, only people of low castes ate meat. This may not be wholly true but by the time of his visit vegetarianism was the norm for the Hindus of the higher classes. The non- vegetarianism in the Vedic period has given way to vegetarianism in the Gupta period. During the Vedic period, large number of animals were sacrificed and consequently eaten.

However, by the days of the Upanishads, which stressed the doctrine of non-violence, vegetarianism began to come into vogue. It also got impetus with the rise of Buddhism and Jainism.  The Mauryan Emperor Ashoka, who took initiatives for the spread of the Buddhism as a world religion, became enamoured of vegetarian food when he came under the influence of Buddhism and as such he forbade killing of many animals in the royal kitchen. But the Arthashastra, written in the Mauryan period, does not consider anything but normal. This treatise on statecraft lays down rules for the management of slaughterhouse and the maintenance of the purity of the meat. 

Even though the growth of Mahayana Buddhism and new Hinduism contributed to the growth of strict vegetarianism, meat eating was taken recourse to by members of tantric cults of Buddhism ad Hinduism. 

Swayamvara: Marriage by Choice of the Bride

In ancient India, Swayamvara was a form of marriage in which the girl after attaining puberty chose her husband from among the assembled suitors. This type of marriage was particularly prevalent among the kshatriyas, the warrior and ruling class. Ancient law books lay down that in the case of parents not been able to marry their daughters, they can choose their own husband. 

Epic literature is full of instances which show that Swayamvara marriage took place in good numbers in ancient times. Though this marriage by choice used to be conducted at a chosen venue, sometimes other means were also taken recourse to choose the partner. In order to find her soul mate, Princess Savitri toured the country in chariot, until she found Satyavan, the son of a king turned woodcutter.

In the longest narrative episode in the Mahabharata it has been described how Princess Damayanti chose her husband Nala at a grand ceremony. Nala , who has long parted from his wife, is reunited with her only when Damayanti plans to hold a second Swayamvara.

While Princes Draupady was won by Arjuna, one of the five Pandavas, Rama won the hands of Sita at a Swayamvara, at which she chose him because he won the contest in which he was the only contestant who was able to lift the Shivа Dhanushа (Lord Shiva's Bow).

Swayamvara marriage had been conducted in ancient India as late as the 11^th century. Vikramaditya VI (c. 1075- 1127), the great Chalukyan king, is said to have won the hands of his brides by this method.

Gesudaraz Syed Muhamad Husayni (1321 A.D. - 1422A.D): Famous Sufi Saint of Deccan

A famous Sufi saint of Chisti order, Gesudaraz Syed Muhamad Husayni is credited with the spread of Chisti order in South India. A disciple of Chirag-i-Delhi, he left Delhi in 1398 and went to Gulbarga in Karnataka where he was well received by the Bahmani Sultan Firoz Shah Bahmani. Gulbarga was the capital of the Bahmani kingdom until its transfer to Bidar in 1428. 

Author of a large number of books on Tasawwuf (mysticism), he was a scholar of great repute and well versed in Quranic verses. Popular with the masses, he had deep compassion for the poor and the impoverished and this earned him the title of Bandanawaz (benefactor of the creatures of God).

A linguist with extensive knowledge of several languages, Gesudaraz was one of the early poets and writers who wrote in Urdu that came into being as a result of the mingling the Persian, Turkish and Arabic words accompanied by concepts of Sanskritic origin.

In the later years, the relation between Gesudaraz and Firoz Bahmani became strained as Sufi saint threw his weight to Bahmani Sultan's brother Ahmad to succeed the throne.

Gesudaraz died at Gulbarga and is buried there.

Qutb-ud-din Mubarak Shah Khilji, Last Khilji Ruler

Mubarak was the third son of 'Ala-ud-din Khilji. After the murder of Malik Kafur, who had placed Mubarak in prison in the Hazar Sutun (the palace of a thousand pillars) and tried to blind him, the latter was made by the nobles the regent of his minor brother Shihab-ud-din 'Umar, who was placed on the throne of Delhi Sultanate by Malik Kafur after Khilji Sultan’s death.

After serving as the regent for sixty-four days, Mubarak blinded his brother in 1316, and placed himself on the throne and took the title of Qutb-ud-din Mubarak Shah.

After become the Sultan, Mubarak set himself to the task of rescinding the harsher administrative policies and economic regulations of his father. As he had himself suffered the agony of imprisonment, he set the political prisoners free. As corollary, chaos, confusion and bankruptcy began to rule the roost in the Sultanate. Added to this, he indulged in indolence and pleasure immersing himself in drinking. This resulted in the disappearance of "all fear and awe of royal authority.

Mubarak Khilji was under the influence of Khusrav Khan, a low-caste (Parwari) Hindu convert from Gujarat, whom he raised to the status of wazir, maik naib and commander in chief.

During the reign of Mubarak Shah, the rebellion in Gujarat was suppressed by his father-in law Ain-ul-Mulk, who was given the title of Zafar Khan and made governor of Gujarat. The Sultan led a military campaign against the Yadavas of Devagiri ruled by Harapala Deva who was killed. Malik Yaklaki was appointed governor of Devagiri. Mubarak Khilji Shah constructed a mosque at Devagiri. A military campaign under the leadership of Khusrav Khan was sent to Telingana, which fell in the hands of the invaders. These expeditions had been described in Amir Khusro in his Nuh Sipihr which was composed during the reign of Mubarak Khilji.

These military successes went into Mubarak’s head and he ordered the killings of several members of the royal family. The Sultan proclaimed himself “the supreme head of the religion of Islam, the Khalifah of the Lord of Heaven and Earth". He took the pontifical title of al-Wasiq-billah.

However, Mubarak was not destined to rule more. He was murdered by one of Khusrav’s Parwari associates in 1320. Thus came the end of the Khilji dynasty after a rule of thirty years.