I am not sure I will agree with most of the things in this paragraph. It is written in lot of haste therefore most things do not make any sense.
Lot of the things attributable to Scythians such as Sun, earth can easily be found in Veds. Surya, Vayu and similar stuff find mention in Veda so why run to Scythians for them.
A discussion about Scythians could reveal a lot such as who were they really. Herodotus, who may have coined the term, provides 3 different definitions of Scythians, which are often contradictory to each other. It is a very loosely used term and even more loosely assigned to groups.
Secondly, my understading of the north west, just prior to Maurya or even Greeks is that whole region was a made of well formed Janpads (or republics), which can easily be ascertained from Buddhist literature. Even a casual search will reveal these Janpads, so why run to Scythians again is my question.
Few goths, such Johal/Juhl from Juvala, arising from central Asians is believable provided author can provide more evidence than just saying that two names include a 'J' and 'a' and 'l' therefore they are same. Secondly this paragraph is supposed to provide information on Mauryas but he is discussing Mihirkul and Torman who appeared on the scene only about 700 years later. He is definitely confused.
A closer reading of Janapads or republics will offer better insight than simple generalizations as offered in the paragraph cited below in my opinion.
I think the discussion group run by Ravi on Yahoo has some very good material.
Extracts from : Collapse of the Brahminist Empire by Khshatrapa Gandasa
Chapter: III .........................Mauryas
The Mauryas were themselves perhaps of Scythic origin. D.B. Spooner who evacuated Pataliputra was struck by his findings and writes in his article "The Zoroastrian Period of Indian History" as follows:
"For Chandragupta' s times, the evidences are more numerous and more detailed, and indicate a following of Persian customs all along the line - in public works, in ceremonial, in penal institutions, everything".
The theory of a Scythic descent of the Mauryas is supported by the following pieces of evidence :
- Mauryan coins have the symbol of the sun, a branch, a humped bull and mountain (Dehiya, p.155). All these are pre-eminently Scythian MassaGetae icons who were Sun worshippers with the high mount symbolizing earth and the irregular curving lines alongside it symbolizing water. The tree branch is a symbol of productivity of the earth - agriculture and soldiering were the traditional noble occupations of Sakas. The historians of Darius record that when he attempted to attack the Scythian MassaGetae (an old-Iranian culture of Central Asia) along the Black sea in the 5th century BC, "the Saka kings swore by the sun god and refused to surrender earth and water".
- The clan name of Toramana and Mahirgula, viz Jauvla, is still available among Indian Jats who are now called Jauhl.
- Jat/Gujar clans and villages named Maur and Dharan exist even today in Punjab, Haryana, Bihar and western MP.
- The Puranas do not even refer to the largest imperial dynasties of the north such as the Mauryas (324 - 232 BC) and Dharan Guptas (320 AD - 515) as "Kshatriyas". Regarding the Mauryas, Dehiya [p.147] states "Another indication of the foreign origin [ ie. Saka ] of these people is . . . The Vishnu Purana calls them [ Gupta rulers ] Sudras. The Markandeya Purana brands the Mauryas as Asura. The Yuga Purana called them `utterly irreligious, though posing as religious'. The Mudra Rakshasa calls these people as Mlecchas and Chandragupta himself is called 'Kulahina', an upstart of unknown family".
It has also been suggested that this Scythic influence was occasioned by the immigration of Iranic Scyhtians fleeing the Greek conquest. Be that as it may, the fact remains that the main civilizing impetus behind the Mauryan empire was Scythic.
Source acknowledged: http://dalithsvshinduism.blogspot.in/2011/12/collapse-of-brahminist-empire-by.html
Comments of the learned Jatland members on the topic are invited.
