The Vedic Sanatana roots of the Mitanni Empire

Vedic roots of the Mitanni Empire

1. Introduction

 

The Mittanni empire stretched to the present-day northern Iraq, Syria and Turkey flourished around 1500 BCE. The capital of Mitanni was Washukanni, located on the the River Habur, a tributary of the Euphrates. The Assyrians knew this kingdom as Hanigalbat (also Khanigalbat, Hani-Rabbat), and the Hittites referred to these people as the Huri and their territory as the land of the Huri (or Hurri) and land of the Hurrians.

To the east, the Mitanni bordered with the Hurrian-speaking Kassites whose territory corresponds to present-day Kurdistan. The lands of the Mitanni in northern Syria bordered eastern Anatolia to its west and extended east as far as Nuzi (present-day Kirkuk, Iraq) and the river Tigris in the east. In the south, it extended from Aleppo across to Mari on the Euphrates to the east.

 

Its heartland was the Khabur river region, where Wassukkani, its capital, was located. The name Wassuukkani probably be the corruption of the Sanskrit word 'Vasu-khani' (वसु खानि) meaning 'a mine of wealth/prosperity'. The Mitannis had good relations with the Egyptian kings.  Mitanni Empire had its north-western border with the Hattian kingdom of the Hittites.  The peace treaty signed by these two rivals invokes and makes the Vedic deities as divine witnesses.

The Kingdom of Mittani. The Sanskrit names Ugarit, Urkesh and Qadesh can be observed on the map.

 

A very little information concerning the Mitannis is obtained from their own sources.  Most of the information comes from Egyptian, Hittitie and Assyrian records. The correspondence between the kings of the Mitanni with the Assyria and Egypts (the Amara letters) as well as the world's oldest horse-training manual, and a treaty between the Mitanni and Hittites, give information about this prosperous kingdom.

2. Mitanni connection to the Egyptians pharaoh

Mittanis had links to the Egyptians pharaohs. In this connection, the names of the Mitanni king Tushratta and the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten are worth mentioning. The Akhenaten of Egypt ruled between 1352-1336 BC. The Mitanni princess Tadukhipa, daughter of the Mitanni king Tushratta who was married to the pharaoh Amenhotep III. She became the wife of Akhenaten who was also known by the name of Amenhotep IV.   The pharaohs were the worshiper of the Sun deity.  The Egyptians considered the pharaohs as the form or the representative of the Sun deity Ra (In Sanskrit, the alphabet Ra is the beej mantra of the Surya or Ravi.  The word Ravi meaning sun also comes from the Ra). There were many temples of Ra built in the Egypt by the pharaohs.   The word p’haraoh might be the corruption of the Sanskrit word Saura meaning Sun.  The Sanskrit alphabet ‘Sa’ is pronounced as ‘Ha’ in many parts of the world.  So it is quite probable that the word Saura became p’haraoh.

3. The Sanskrit names of the Mitanni kings.

The names of the Kings of Mittani empire are given below.

Ruler	Comment
Kirta	Reigned in 1500 BC
Shuttarna I	Son of Kirta
Barattarna/Parshatatar/Parrattarna	Son of Kirta
Shaushtatar	Contemporary of Idrimi of Alalakh, Sacks Ashur
Artatama I	Treaty with Pharaoh Thutmose IV of Egypt, Contemporary of Pharaoh Amenhotep II of Egypt
Shuttarna II	Daughter is   married to the Pharaoh Amenhotep III of Egypt.
Artashumara	Son of Shutarna II
Tushratta	Contemporary of Suppiluliuma I of the Hittites and Pharaohs Amenhotep III and Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) of the Egypt, Amarna letters
Shuttarna III	Contemporary of Suppiluliuma I of the Hittites
Shattiwaza or Kurtiwaza	Mittani becomes subordinate to the Assyria under Adad-nirari I
Wasashatta	Son of Shattuara

 

The pharaoh Akhenaten was son-in-law of Tushratta. The name Tushratta recorded in the Hittite cuneiform script might have been the corruption of the Sanskrit word Dasaratha or Tvesaratha.  The word Tvesaratha appears in the Rigveda meaning the one who has splendid chariots. The names of other Mittani kings are also of Sanskrit origin.  Sutarna probably mean a great refuge, Baratarna or Paratarna also ‘a great refuge), Parasuksatra (ruler with axe); kṣatra क्षत्र (a protector or ruler), Saustatar (Sauksatra, son of Suksatra, the good ruler), Artadama (abiding in cosmic law), ṛta ऋत (fixed or settled order, law, rule); ṛta means an equitable law particularly when the subjects are governed by the law of Dharma), Tushratta (Dasaratha), and Matiwazza (Mativaja, one with a strong determination); mati मति means thought or determination . The alphabet 'arna' appearing in the names of the kings probably have been the Sanskrit word araṇi अरणि (sun) or araṇa अरण (a refuge or shelter).

A cuneiform inscription. Amarna letter from King Tushratta to Akhenaten - an Egyptian Pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty of Egypt. The name Akhenaten may have origin in the Sanskrit word 'Eknathan'.

4. The treaty signed by the Mitanni kings with their rivals invokes the Vedic deities as divine witness.

The treaty signed by the Mitanni kings with their rivals in 1380 BCE invokes the Vedic deities Indra, Varuna, Mitra and the Nasatyas (Ashvins) as divine witnesses for the Mitannis.  This indicates that these people practiced the Sanatana philosophy and worshipped the Vedic gods.  These Deities are mentioned in a Rigveda hymn in the same order as they are mentioned in this treaty.

The Mitanni people practiced that Vedic Sanatan Dharma. They worshipped the Divine Supreme in many forms. The linguistic evidence and the reference of the Vedic deities in Matanni documents indicate the Sanatana character of the people of the Mitanni. Thus, we see that the names of the Mitanni rulers as well as their deities are of Vedic origin (Mitra, Varuna, Indra, Nasatya).

The Mitanni rulers had alliance with the Egypt. The Mitanni king Shuttarna II in the early fourteenth century BCE married his daughter Gilu-Hepa to the Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep III. It is interesting to observe that as per the 'Amarna letter tablets' later Tushratta also married his daughter Taduhepa (also named as Tadukhipa) to the same Amenhotep III.  After the death of Shuttarna, Tushratta, a son of Shuttarna became the ruler. At this time, the Hittite king Suppiluliuma I invaded some subordinate areas of the Mitanni empire.

The capital of Mitanni empire was Washukanni.  After Tushratta, this empire became weak. The Hittites and the Assyrians supported different pretenders to the throne. Finally a Hittite army conquered the capital Washukkanni and installed Shattiwaza, the son of Tushratta, as their subordinate king of Mitanni in the late fourteenth century B.C.E. 

5. The discovery of the oldest surviving horse-training manual.

Archeological excavations indicate that the Mitanni people had a very good knowledge of the chariot making. They had developed the light war chariot with wheels that used spokes instead of the solid wood wheels (used by the Sumerians), so that the chariots were faster and easier to maneuver. The Hittite records of Hattusa (near present-day Boğazkale,Turkey), found the oldest surviving horse-training manual in the world written in 1345 BCE on four tablets.  It contains 1080 lines by a Mitanni horse-trainer named Kikkuli, beginning with the words, "Thus speaks Kikkuli, master horse trainer of the land of Mitanni" and elaborately gives the details for the proper horse training.

6. ‘Amarna letter tablet’ from Tushratta.

The daughter of King Tushratta, the princess Taduhepa (also named as Tadukhipa), was also married to Amenhotep III as part of a treaty between these two nations. Sauska (also known as Shaushka, Sausga, and Anzili) was the Hurrian-Hittite goddess of fertility, war, and healing. She was worshipped throughout the region known as Hanigalbat (present day Iraq, Syria, and Turkey) from the time of the Hurrians (c. 3300 BCE), through the Kingdom of Mitanni (1500-1240 BCE), throughout the Hittite Empire (c.1344-1245 BCE), and beyond.

She is identified with similar powerful female deities of other cultures, such as Innana/Ishtar of the Akkadians and Assyrians, Isis of Egypt, Astarte of the Phoenicians, Usha (Ushas) of the Rig Veda, Aphrodite of the Greeks and Amaterasu of Japan.

Sauska was extremely important to the Hurrians of Mitanni and the Hittites. She is also mentioned as highly honorable deity in the ‘Amarna letters’ (correspondence between Egyptian pharaohs and rulers of other nations found in the city of Amarna).

(Sauska)

Thus, Tushratta sent the statue of the patron deity of Washukanni, the goddess of fertility Sauska, among other valuable things with her daughter. Amenhotep III was ill at this time, and Sauska, who also presided over healing, was sent to alleviate whatever ailed him but also, as a goddess presiding over the marriage and love, to bless the marriage and strengthen the union of the couple.

7. The etymological evidence

There are a large number of words in the cuneiform documents of the Mitanni kingdom having Sanskrit origin. The Mittanis were Vedic people.  They worshipped the Sun and spoke the Hurrian language.  The word Hurrian probably can be the corruption of the world Surya (Ha for Sa).  During the etymological studies of the origin of different languages from the Sanskrit, it has been observed that the Sanskrit alphabet ‘Sa’ is pronounced as ‘Ha’ in many parts of the world.  There are other words also in the Hurrian language with Sanskrit origin like babru and pabru (babhrú, ‘brown’), parita (palitá- ‘grey’) and pinkara (pingala, red).

 

Not only the Mitanni Kings but the Egyptian pharaohs also have names having Sanskrit origin.

 

Recently, the archaeologists have uncovered a 3,400-year-old Mittani Empire-era city once located on the Tigris River. The settlement emerged from the waters of the Mosul reservoir as water levels fell rapidly due to extreme drought in Iraq.

(Mittani Empire-era city once located on the Tigris River discovered)

 

8. The whole surrounding West Asia region was also practicing the Vedic Sanatana Dharma

The Hittites, Kassites and Mitanni civilizations in the West Asia region ruled Turkey and Syria with Sanskrit names as Dasaratha and Pratardhana. The name Mitanni is connected with Mithras of Vedas. Their capital Washukanni is connected with Vedic god Vasu (Asta vasus). The word Syria came from Surya (the Sun deity mentioned in the Vedas), Turkey came from Turaga/horse, Assyria came from Ashura, Iran came from the word Aryan. So we see Vedic Sanskrit names spread everywhere.  It is quite clear that the Hittites, Kassites and Mitannis spoke a language related to Sanskrit. Dasaratha (Tushratta in Mitanni inscriptions) married his two daughters to Egyptian Pharaoh. Mitannis singed the treaty in the name of Vedic deities making them the divine witness to the treaty. In Turkey, horse manuals in Sanskrit are found.

 

9. Conclusion

Dasaratha wrote letters to Egyptian king, married his daughter to an Egyptian king, sent a vigraha, statue of Devi Sauksa with her to the Egypt. The Goddess Sauksa is one of the many forms of the Supreme mother Goddess and is known by many names in different ancient cultures. In Sumer, she was called Inanna, in Egypt Isis or Ashe(t); in Babylon Ishtar, in Phoenician Astarte, in Canaan her name was Ashera, in Greece Aphrodite and in Rome Venus. The Devi Sauksa is definitely a form of Vedic deities Durga or Lakshmi.

 

(The Goddess Sauksa known by the name of Ashe(t) in the Egypt; Ishtar in Babylon and Astarte in Phoenicia)

Mitanni kings signed an agreement in the name of the Vedic deities in the same order as these deities are found in the Rig Vedic hymns.  Therefore, the Vedas are much older in origin than stated by the Max Muller.  The Mitanni people spoke a language that was very closely related to the Sanskrit. The oldest horse manual has been found in Turkey with instructions in Sanskrit language.

 

The above discussion compels us to believe that the Vedic people who recited the Vedas did not come to India from the central Europe but they were native to the Indian Subcontinent.  It was later that these people spread to the different parts of the world.  Here, in the instant case, they spread to the West Asia carrying the Vedic Sanatana philosophy and practices and the Sanskrit language to that region.