SOODS – ARE WE HERE SINCE THE VEDIC AGES ?
SOODS – ARE WE HERE SINCE THE VEDIC AGES ?
( An informative and well researched article written by
Shri P. R. Sud, I.F.S.former Ambassador of India, TUNIS (Tunicia)
The article was published in 1992 in two instalments in Sood Sandesh.)
INTRODUCTION
The family name Sud which has different meanings in different languages makes on wonder how exactly a large Hindu Community in North India, mostly in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, came to have this family name with varied sub-castes. In Urdu and possibly persian, the word ‘sud’ means interest on money; in Arabic, it means black; in French, the term is South and so on. The folklore, myths and tales of fabled heroes of the past are some of the historical, cultural and social influences within which any child of a family grows up. The racial myths and folklore hark back deep into the hoary and misty past and is difficult to sift legend from history or myth from reality. I too grew up in my village Jawalamukhi in Himachal Pradesh during the years of second world war when my late father was serving in the army. Our elders recounted ancient tales of bravery and valour and some of them even went as far back as the time of the Vedas to say that the Suds were the part of the original Aryan tribes that migrated from their ancient home in Central Asia to northern India. Some recounted King Porus who fought against Alexander in the Punjab plains was a Sud while others mentioned names of various ancient kings, emperors in Vedic times who were our ancestors. On the other extreme were critics of this theory who ridiculed the idea saying that the Soods were basically a business community and family name was forced upon them by the Muslim invaders since they dealt in trade and money. This is highly unlikely as whenever foreign invasions took place in Punjab, the local population had little social contact with the invaders.
Childhood memories of such folklore’s and myths remain with me even to this day and my interest was once again aroused in the subject a couple of years back when I came across four handbooks written by Shri Ram Rattan Sood, resident of New Delhi, who had taken pains to try to trace the history of Suds and to compile a list of eminent Soods who have contributed to the society and the Nation. One of these books by Shri Ram Rattan Sood carried my father’s photograph as the Army Officer who initiated Sandalwood plantation in Himachal Pradesh. I was happy to see my name also mentioned in the book.
Shri Salamat Rai Sood, the author of Mukamal Tarikh-e-Sudan, has mentioned on Page 48 of his book that Suds were in India since Vedic times. However, Shri Ram Rattan Sood disputes this version and quotes certain other sources stating that such a claim by Salamat Rai is not tenable. So, naturally enough, the only manner in which I could satisfy my curiosity was to go back to the source of this claim and consult the Vedas.
The very first reference to one King Sudas comes in Book I, Hymn 47 of Rigveda dedicated to the God Asvins:-
O’Mighty ones, ye gave Sudas abundant food, brought on your treasure-laden cart;
so now vouchsafe to us the wealth which many crave, either from the heaven or from the sea.
Thus, the fact of the Veda mentioning a King by the name of Sudas as mentioned in the Rigveda naturally aroused one’s curiosity as to his Vedic existence and his life account as described in the Rigveda and very briefly in the Atharvaveda. I did not have the chance to consult the Samaveda and Yajurveda.
THE VEDAS:
Before I proceed to dwell deep into Rigveda to find out more about King Sudas, I am digressing concerning the Vedas themselves. My source of information and knowledge about the Rigveda is from the English translation rendered by Ralph T. H. Griffith and published by Motilal Banarsidass, New Delhi. In the introduction, Griffith takes no credit for collecting the text of the Vedas but mentions that his translation is based on the work of the great scholar Sayana who was Prime Minister at the court of the King of Vijayanagar in the 14th Century A.D. The Vedas are collection of mantras or hymns and present the conditions of Aryans before their final settlement in India. The Vedas have been handed over through the ages from generation to generation and have accompanied the great army of Aryan migrants in the onward march from the land of some of the rivers to the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal. Contained in the Vedas is the nature worship of the Aryan ancestors in which they identified all natural phenomena as super beings and worshipped them as such.
THE LAND OF SEVEN RIVERS:
The original home of the Aryans in India was in the north and, according to the Rigveda, the original Aryan tribe had settled down in the region now called Punjab but at that time it was referred to as the Land of Seven Rivers. The first reference to seven rivers is mentioned:
Thou hast won back the kine, hast won the Soma;
Thou has let loose to flow the Seven Rivers. –(Book I Hymn 32 )
The seven rivers, according to Max Mueller, are the Indus, five rivers of Punjab – Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, Sutlaj and Sarsvati. Numerous references are made to the various rivers describing their nature, their courses and effect it had on the Kings’ armies and conquerors who had to confront the rivers in various seasons in fighting the locals.
ARYAN TRIBES IN INDIA:
According to the Rigveda, the main Aryan tribes, who started settling in North-West India, spread to the East and Central India and controlled other regions, were mainly five. They could be either the five tribes or five major settlements who had a loose confederation amongst them alongwith other smaller tribes. The tribes mentioned are Turvasas, Yadus, Anus, Druhyus and Purus. These five tribes are mentioned repeatedly in various context especially while their chiefs faced the local indigenous rulers in battles for which they sought the blessings of the super-beings like Agni, Indra and hosts of other Vedic Gods. No particular King of any of these five main tribes is given any special place in the Rigveda or their exploits recounted at length. This is reserved for King Sudas who was not from the five main tribes but headed a smaller tribe called TRTSUS. Sudas is the only king in the Rigveda whose life and conquests are enumerated in some detail by two of the ancient Rishies – Vishvakitra and Vashisht, both of whom were purohits at his court. There are accounts of jealousy between Visvamitra who was a non-Brahman and Vashisht, a Brahman, and how ultimately Vashisht managed to ease out Visvamitra from Sudas’ favours.
Although the mention of Sudas occurs in the Book I of the Rigveda, it is in the Book III and Book VII that we find details of his life and his wars and travels. Book III was written by Visvamitra while Book VII by Vashisht. Griffith mentions that according to Sayana, Visvamitra obtained wealth by means of his service as the purohit of King Sudas and left the palace after conflict with Vashisht and came to the confluence of Sutlej and Beas. Others followed him. This also implies eastward migration of Aryans tribes and gives us an idea of the court of King Sudas being situated in land of seven rivers.
KING SUDAS:
Vashisht is the author of Book VII of the Rigveda and it is here that one finds detailed references to Sudas’s ancestry, his life, his rule, his conquests and his progeny. King Sudas was the descendant of one Pijavana or Divodasa who could be the same Pijavana or one of Suda’s forefathers (Book VII Hymn 18 ). In the hymns Vashisht sings praises of Sudas while appealing to Lord Indra to render all help to the king in his battles with his enemies. Vashisht says that the Trtsus tribe, led by King Sudas and helped by other Aryan tribes, defeated the non-Aryan tribes. After the victory, King Sudas bestowed gifts on Vashisht who prayed to Lord Indra to bless Kind Sudas:
“God of the fair helm, give Sudas a hundred succours,
a thousand blessings, and thy bounty” —( Book VII Hymn 25 )
Sudas victories continued in various fields and at one place, one comes across a reference that Sudas defeated 10 local kings ( Book VII Hymns 60 and 83 ). There are no further references in the Rigveda regarding King Sudas. However, a reference is available in the Atharvaveda where the author reminds Indra for the benediction he has bestowed on King Sudas in the past for his fight against ten kings (Book XX 128 ).
The foregoing account of King Sudas in Rigveda, confirm the definite existence of King Sudas who belonged to a smaller Aryan tribe called Trtsus which settled down in North India in the plains of Punjab. There they established their homes and spread in the East and West and later towards the South. Through the flow of time and ages, the Trtsus tribe multiplied and came to be known as Suds. I have no doubt in the matter as we are a community possessing typical Aryan features and are settled only in the geographical area of Punjab as mentioned in the Rigveda. The fact that a part of the Sud community migrated to the hills in the aftermath of the invasion and destruction of Punjab by Ahmad Shah Abdali after the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1839 is recent history, and the Suds in the hills trace their recent history back to the same area in Punjab, wherein the Sud community has flourished since the time of Rigveda.
Are we Suds here since Vedic times? Difinitely YES. We are descendants of the ancient Aryan Tribe – Trtsus and their King Sudas.