Vedic 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 and 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.
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The
Kingdom of Mittani. The Sanskrit names |
A very little information
concerning the Mitannis is obtained from their own sources. Most of the
information comes from Egyptian, Hittite 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 was married to the pharaoh Amenhotep III. Later, 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 some 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. |
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 (Mitra,
Varuna, Indra, Nasatya) are of Vedic origin.
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 of the Mitanni empire and
installed Shattiwaza, the son of Tushratta, as their subordinate king 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 (present-day 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)
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 is 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 has been discovered
recently)
8. The whole surrounding
West Asia region also had Vedic Sanatana roots.
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 Mithra
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 in this region.
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.
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