z:\ ambedkar\vol 04\vol4 05.indd MK SJ DK YS 23 9 2013/YS 8 11 2013 223
RIDDLE NO. 18
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- Suta states that (1) Bhoja, (2) Mleccha, (3) Shalik and (4) Pulinda are the Progenies of this single conjugation.
V. Conjugation of Kshatriya father and Shudra mother—
Manu says that the progeny is called Ugra.
Suta says that (1) Daushantya, (2) Daushantee and (3) Shulika are the progenies of this single conjugation.
VI. Conjugation of Shudra father and Vaishya mother—
Manu says the progeny is called Ayogava.
Suta says the progeny is (1) Pattanshali and (2) Chakri.
Let us take up another question. Is Manu’s explanation of the genesis of the mixed castes historically true?
To begin with the Abhira. According to Manu the Abhiras are the bastards born of Brahmin males and Ambashta females. What does history say about them? History says that the Abhiras (the corrupt form of which is Ahira) were pastoral tribes which inhabited the lower districts of the North-West as far as Sindh. They were a ruling independent Tribe and according to the Vishnu Purana [1] the Abhiras conquered Magadha and reigned there for several years.
The Ambashta [2] says Manu are the bastards born of Brahmana male and Vaishya female. Patanjali speaks of Ambashtyas as those who are the natives of a country called Ambashta. That the Ambashtas were an independent tribe is beyond dispute. The Ambashtas are mentioned by Megasthenes the Greek Ambassador at the Court of Chandragupta Maurya as one of the tribes living in the Punjab who fought against Alexander when he invaded India. The Ambashtas are mentioned in the Mahabharata. They were reputed for their political system and for their bravery.
The Andhras [3] says Manu are bastards of second degree in so far as they are the progeny of Vaidehaka male and Karavara female both of which belong to bastard castes. The testimony of history is quite different. The Andhras are a people who inhabited that part of the country which forms the eastern part of the Deccan Plateau. The Andhras are mentioned by Megasthenes. Pliny the Elder (77 A.D.) refers to them as a powerful tribe enjoying paramount sway over their land in the Deccan, possessed numerous villages, thirty walled towns defended by moats and lowers and supplies their king with an immense army consisting of 1,00,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry and 1,000 elephants.
1 Book IV Chapter 24.
2 For Ambashtas see Jaiswal’s Hindu Polity—Part-I, pp. 73-74.
3 For the Andhras see—Early Dynasties of Andhradesa—by Bhavaraju Venkata Krishnarao. They are also called Satavahanas.