Human History in the Purāṇa

Indeed, when the human civilization has emerged in the world, the human history began. The human history begins between 160000 and 195000 years ago with early modern humans, beginning with early periods, like the Mesolithic and Neolithic. In the Purāṇas the dynastic tradition of different Kings and Sages at different times has been described as human history. Human history has been described in the Purāṇas based on the repetition of the old. And the authenticity of this history is proved by the inscriptions. Later on, the Purāṇas have enriched themselves, day by day with the time to collect various information of the dynasties.

A. Agni Purāṇa:

At the beginning of the Agni Purāṇa , there is a reference of Lord Viṣṇu’s fish incarnation^[1], turtle incarnation^[2] and boar incarnation^[3] in the 2, 3 and 4 chapter. Although this description does not identify the genre. After that in the context of Rāmāyaṇa from the chapter 5 to chapter 11, the king of Ikṣvāku dynasty, Rāma has been mentioned. But not only Rāma there are also mentioned about the Ṛṣi Agastya, Pulastya and Viśraba in the Chapter 11. And the chapter 11 also describe about the dynasty of Rāvana^[4], the king of Lankā . The chapter 12 of this Purāṇa is extremely momentous. In this chapter, with reference to the Harivaṃśa, the story of king Yajāti’s dynasty has been mentioned (verse-1, 2, 3). And also as the successor of king Yajāti, Lord Kṛṣṇa^[5] and his next lineage^[6] were discussed in detail in the chapter 12.

Then in beginning of the chapter 13, in the context of the Mahābhārata , King Śāntanu and his lineages were described -

…..tataḥ purustasya vaṃśe bharato Stha nṛpaḥ kuruḥ || 3 ||

In the verse 15 of chapter 17, there is a mention about Brahma’s 7 Mānasputra ^[7]. After that the Swayambhu Manu’s lineage has been discussed in detail in the chapter 18. Throughout the chapter 19, there are a huge identity of Ṛṣi Kaśyapa and his dynasty. There are mentioned about the sons of the Ṛṣi Vṛgu, Marīci, Atri, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu and Vaśiṣṭha in the chapter 20.

The Sūrya-vaṃśa , Soma-vaṃśa and the Yaduvaṃśa are specially mentioned in the chapter 273, 274 and 275 respectively.

The chapter 277 contains the information about the Turbasu dynasty–

turvvasośca suto vargo gobhānustasya cātmajaḥ
gobhānorāsīṃ traiśānistraiśānestu karandhamaḥ || 1 ||

There are also descriptions about the Druhya dynasty in this chapter–

druhyostu vabhrusetuśca vabhrusetuḥ purovasuḥ ...

And lastly the famous Puru dynasty has been discussed in the chapter 278.

B. Vāyu Purāṇa:

The chapter 28th of the Vāyu Purāṇa contains some sage’s genealogy like–genealogy of Ṛṣi Bhṛgu has been mentioned in the verse number 1 to 7 of chapter 28, genealogy of Ṛṣi Marīci has been described in the verse 8 to 13, genealogy of Ṛṣi Angirā has been mentioned in the verse 14 to 20 etc.

Then in the whole chapter 31 the ‘Sūta’ has been described about the Deva vaṃśa in detail–

pituvaṃ prasaṅgena kathāhyeṣā prakīrttitā |
pitṛṇāmānupūrvvyeṇa devān vakṣāmyataḥ param || 2 || 

The chapter 32 contains the information about the Puru vaṃśa , Manu vaṃśa and Ikṣvāku vaṃśa –

……vaivasvatehuntare tasmin devarājarṣayastathā || 38 ||
devāpiḥ pauravorājā manumeṣākuvaṃśajāḥ
mahāyogavalopetāḥ kālāntaramupāsate || 39 ||

There are also described about the Aira vaṃśa¹¹ and Bhoja vaṃśa¹² in this chapter. After that the chapter 33 has been mentioned about the Swayambhu dynasty.

From the verse 21 there are another famous description of Pṛthu vaṃśa in the chapter 63 of Vāyu Purāṇa –

evaṃ sarvveṣu vijñeyāhyatītānāgateṣviha |
devā manvantareṣvasya pṛthostu śṛrṇuta prajāḥ || 21 |

The dynasty of Ṛṣi Kaśyapa has been detailed in the chapter 64. Next the chapter 65 represent the information about the Ṛṣi Bhṛgu’s dynasty (From the śloka 72 to 96), the Ṛṣi Angirā’s dynasty (From the sloka 96 to 108) and the Ṛṣi Marīci’s dynasty (from the sloka 109 to 118). From the verse 53 of chapter 67, the story and the dynasty of king Hiranyakaśipu has been narrated. The whole section of the chapter 68 of this Purāṇa contains the whole episode of the Danu dynasty. The genealogy of Ṛṣi Kaśyapa has been mentioned in the chapter 70.

In this section the story of king Rāvaṇa’s dynasty is particularly notable–

….ṛddhyāṃ kuvero'janayadviśrutaṃ nalakuvaram |
rāvaṇaṃ kumbhakarṇañca kanyāṃ śūrpaṇakhāṃ tathā || .....

Then the glorious Ikṣvāku dynasty has been described in the chapter 88.

In this section, the dynasty of king Kuśa, the son of Rāma, has been specifically mentioned as the Kuśa vaṃśa–

uttarākośale rājyaṃ lavasya ca mahātmanaḥ |
śarāvastī lokavikhyātā kuśavaṃśaṃ nivodhita || 201 ||

Later the Maithila dynasty, Amabasu dynasty and the king Yajāti’s dynasty has been referred in the chapter 89, 91 and 93 respectively.

The chapter 94 contains the description about the famous Yadu dynasty–

yadorvaṃśa pravakṣyāmi jyeṣṭhasyottamatejasaḥ |
vistareṇānupurvvyā ca gadato me nivodhata || 1 ||

Then the dynasty of Ṛṣi Kroṣṭu has been described in the chapter 95. After that there are many information about some historical dynasties as well as Gupta, Maurya, Turbasu, Druhya, Gāndhara etc. in the chapter 99. This chapter (99) has great historical value. Not only the descriptions about the Rsis and kings but also there are many descriptions about the lineages of Kinnara, Apsara, Gandharva, Rakṣasa etc. in the chapter 69.

C. Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa:

The information about kings’ life story available in more detail in the comparison of kings’ genealogy in the Markaṇḍeya Purāṇa . Yet there are many information about the lineages of kings in the several chapters. In the early chapters, there are many names of Ṛṣis like–Jaimini, Vaśiṣṭha, Viśvāmitra, but there is no information about their descendants. Apart from this, there are mention the name of king Bipaschit, but no information are there about his descendants in the chapter 13. Similarly, in spite of mention the name of Rājā Kārtavirja in the chapter 19 and the name of king Śatrujit’s son Rājā Ṛtadhvaja in the chapter 20 there are no description of their genealogy.

After that in the context of Svārociṣa Manvantara chapter 67 mention the name of various Kings, Ṛṣi and Devata–

tataḥ svārociṣaṃ nāmnā dyutimantaṃ prajāpatim ||
manuṃ cakāra bhagavāṃstasya manvantaraṃ śṛṇu || 1 ||
tatrāntare tu ye devā manuyastatsunāśca ye |
kroṣṭukeye tāna gadasastvaṃ niśāmaya || 2 ||

The names of some kings Devatas and Ṛṣis in the time of Vaibasvata Manu have been mentioned in the chapter 79. Although there is a reference of king Surath in the chapter 93, there is no more description of his descendant. Even though there is no clan history in the beginning of this Purāṇa , there are few chapters which contain the history. In the chapter 111 there are description about Surya dynasty; 112, 113 and 114 the description of King Nāvaga, chapter 115 -description of king Sudeva, chapter 1117-118–description of king Khanitra, chapter 119–description of king Vivingsa. The chapter 120 and 121 describe about the king Khaninetra and Karandham respectively. From the chapter 122 to 136, the description of King Abikṣita, Marut, Nariṣyanta and Dama are mentioned.

D. Viṣṇu Purāṇa:

Viṣṇu Purāṇa has abundance of dynasty. There are many information various dynasties in this Purāṇa . At the beginning of the Purāṇa the chapter 7 describe the description of Swayambhu manu’s descendants. The dynasties of Ṛṣi Bhṛgu, Agni and Agniṣvata has been discussed in the chapter 10. Although the descendants did not describe, the character of king Pṛthu and Ben has been mentioned in the Chapter 13. The chapter 15 has the descriptions of the daughter of Dakṣa. The first section of second part of the Viṣṇu Purāṇa contains the information about the dynasty of king Priyabrata. There are many information about genealogy almost in the entire part of fourth section of the Purāṇa. The dynasty of Vaivasvata Manu has been discussed in the first chapter of fourth section. Second chapter describes about the Ikṣvāku dynasty. The descendant of Rāja Māndhāta has been mentioned in the chapter 3. Story of king Nimi’s tribe is in the chapter 5. Description of the Soma dynasty has been discussed in the chapter 6. This chapter has also the special discussion about the Chandramā, Budha and Pururaba. Chapter 8 mentions about the Kaśya dynasty. There are description of the king Aji and his descendant in the chapter 9. Chapter 10 represents the description of king Yajāti. The Yadu dynasty has been mentioned in the chapter 11. Next the chapter 12 discusses the story of dynasty of king Krastu, the son of Yadu. Chapter 13 contains the portrayal of the descendant of Stvata. After that we get the information about genealogy of king Anamitra and Andhaka from the chapter 14. The next chapters of this section describe quite much historical dynasties such as–(i) Turbasu dynasty in the chapter 16, (ii) Druhya dynasty in the chapter 17, (iii) Anu dynasty in the chapter 18, (iv) Puru dynasty in the chapter 19, (v) Kuru dynasty in the chapter 20, (vi) future dynasty of Ikṣvāku in the chapter 21 & 22, (vii) Magadha dynasty in the chapter 23 and (viii) Some dynsty of Kali age like Kanva, Maurya in the chapter 24.

E. Kūrma Purāṇa:

From the beginning of the chapter 8 of the Kūrma Purāṇa , there is a description of Swayambhu Manu’s dynasty. This chapters also describes the descriptionof the daughters of Dakṣa Prajāpati. Later in the chapter 12, the story of the children, born by Maharṣi Vṛgu, Marīci and Pulastya from the Dakṣa’s daughters have been noted. Again chapter 13 describes the history of Swayambhu Manu’s family. The famous king Pṛthu’s dynasty tradition has been mentioned in this chapter (13). The 18th chapter has the description of king Rāvaṇa and Kumbhakarna in the context of dynasty of the Ṛṣi Kaśyapa and Pulastya. On the other side in this chapter, there are story of descendant of Ṛṣi Vaśiṣṭha. Then the description of the Surya dynasty described in chapter 19 is very significant. The whole section of the 20th chapter consists of the Ikṣvāku dynasty. In this chapter the description of Lord Rāma is very important. 21 chapter details the delineation of Chandra dynasty and Yadu dynasty. In this chapter, the story of Rāja Jayadhvaja is particularly important. The account of king Jayadhvaja’s dynasty is found in the chapter 22. At the end of the 22nd chapter, there are the Sahasrajita’s descendant. The description of Yadu dynasty in the 23rd chapter is particularly notable. But this chapter describes the dynasty of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s father Vasudeva too. Then in the 38th chapter, in the context of Bhubankosa, the account of Rāja Priyabrata and his son Agnidhra’s dynasty have been portrayed.

F. Padma Purāṇa:

Description of human history begin by the Swayambhu Manu’s dynasty in the 4th chapter of Sṛṣṭi Khanda. Then this also describes the dynasty’s information of king Pṛthu and Surya in the chapter 9. Yadu dynasty has been narrated in the chapter 12 and Kroṣṭu dynasty in the 13th chapter. There are no other details of dynasty in the other Khanda of this Purāṇa .

G. Liṅga Purāṇa:

The chapter 6 of Pūrvavaga of the Liṅga Purāṇa has description of Agni and Pitṛ dynasty. In the chapter 46, there are mentioned about the king Priyabrata and the king of Krauñcadvīpa . Chapter 47 describes about the dynasty of king Agnidhra. After that Surya and Chandra dynasty have been mention in the 65th chapter. There are also some other dynasty’s information in this Pūrvavāga such as–(I) Ikṣvāku dynasty in the chapter 66, (II) King Yajāti description in the 66 & 67th chapter, (III) Yadu’s, son of Yajāti dynasty in the 68th chapter. There is no other information about any descendant in this Purāṇa .

H. Garuda Purāṇa:

This Purāṇa has no abundance of dynasty information such as Vāyu or Agni Purāṇa . Some chapters describe a very few information. At the beginning there are about Dhruba dynasty in the 6thchapter. Next 54th chapter has a narration of king Priyabrata’s decendant in the context of ‘Bhubankoṣa ’ similarly of Kūrma Purāṇa . Surya and Chandra dynasty has been mentioned in the chapter 138 & 139-140 respectively. Next in the chapter 141 there are also some other dynasties such as–Ikṣvāku dynasty, Bṛhadwala dynasty and Magadha dynasty etc. 144th chapter has mentioned the name of son and grandson of Lord Kṛṣṇa in the context of Harivaṃśa .

I. Brahma Purāṇa:

We get some human historical information from this Purāṇa . They are as follows–dynasty of Uttanapāda and Swāyambhuva Manu (Ch. -2), dynasty of Surya (Ch.–6), dynasty of Vaivasvata Manu (Ch.–7), about Pururavā (Ch.–10), about born of Yayāti (Ch.-12), dynasty of Puru (Ch.–13), about Vāsudeva and born of Srikṛṣṇa (Ch.–14), dynasty of Srikṛṣṇa (Ch.–205) etc.

J. Nārada Purāṇa:

Nārada Purāṇa is divided into two parts–Pūrva Vāga and Uttaravāga . Pūrva Vāga again is divided into four parts–Prathamapāda , Divtīyapāda , Tṛtīyapāda and Caturthapāda . Although there are several chapters which is in the Nārada Purāṇa , mention Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa and Sitā and the rules of worship, but there is no mention of their lineages. Even there is no mention of any other dynasties in this Purāṇa .

K. Bhaviṣya Purāṇa:

We get a few human historical data from the third part, Pratisarga Parva of the Bhaviṣya Purāṇa . There are descriptions of dynasty of the Tretāyuga (Ch.–2 of Pratisarga Parva ), dynasty of the Dvāparayuga (Ch.–3 of Pratisarga Parva ), dynasty of the Mlechchha (Ch.–5 of Pratisarga Parva ), dynasty of the Sālivāhana (Ch.–21 of Pratisarga Parva ), dynasty of the Bhoja (Ch.–22 of Pratisarga Parva ) etc. in the Bhaviṣya Purāṇa .

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Ancient Indian Historiography by G.P. Sing P.-27, 28.

[2]:

Purāṇa–Encyclopedia

[3]:

Ancient India by V.D. Mahajan–P. 14–16

[4]:

Ancient India by V.D. Mahajan–P. 15

[5]:

Ancient India by V.D. Mahajan–P. 15

[6]:

Ancient India by V.D. Mahajan–P. 15 -16

[7]:

Ancient India by V.D. Mahajan.