DASA

The Dasa are a tribe identified as the enemies of the Aryans in the Rig-Veda. The word Dasa, later acquired derogatory connotations, meaning 'servant', implying that they were subordinated by the Aryans.

Related Topics:
Aryans - Rig-Veda

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The identity of the Dasa has caused much debate, closely tied to arguments over Indo-Aryan migration, the claim that the Indo-Aryan authors of the Rigveda entered India from outside, displacing its earlier inhabitants. During the nineteenth century Western scholars identified the Dasa with dark-skinned Dravidian-speaking peoples, but more recent scholars, notably Asko Parpola, have claimed that they were fellow Indo-Europeans of the BMAC, who initially rejected Aryan religious practices but were later merged with them.

Related Topics:
Indo-Aryan migration - Rigveda - Dravidian - Asko Parpola - Indo-European - BMAC

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A similar term for enemy people, Dasyu, is also used in the Rig Veda. It is unclear whether the Dasa and Dasyu are identical.

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Dasyu is a term that could also be applied to Vedic kings, if their behaviour changed. In the battle of the Ten Kings (Dasarajna) in the Rig Veda the king Sudas calls his enemies "Dasyu" which included Vedic peoples like the Anus, Druhyus, Turvashas, and even Purus. (Rig Veda VII.18, 6, 12, 13, 14)

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There is also a Dasa Balbutha Taruksa in RV 6.45.31 who is a patron of a seer and who is distinguished by his generosity (RV 8.46.32). In the battle of the ten kings, there are Dasas and Aryas on both sides of the battlefield. And there are several hymns in the Rig Veda that refer to Dasa and Aryan enemies (e.g. 6.22.10, 6.33.3, 6.60.6) and to related (jami) and unrelated (ajami) enemies (e.g. 1.111.3, 4.4.5).

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