Thursday 24 August 2017

THE SANSKRITIC NAME VARNA -IN ANCIENT BULGARIA

Varna is the third largest city in Bulgaria and the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. It is situated strategically in the Gulf of Varna, and was historically known as Odessos. Varna Culture is known for the oldest gold jewellery ever found in the world and dates to 4200-4600 BC.

Theophanes the Confessor first mentioned the name Varna in the 6-7th century. The city itself was named after Lake Varna, and the name Varna is of much more antiquity than the city of Varna.

Lake Varna, an elongated lake by shape, is the largest by volume and deepest lake along the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, divided from the sea by a 2 km-wide strip of sand.

Lake Varna, Bulgaria

A number of rivers pour into the lake, including Devnya and Provadiyska that empty near the western shores of Lake Beloslav, which is connected to Lake Varna. Until the 20th century, fresh water from the lake emptied into the Black Sea through the Devnya River. The name Devnya is definitely of Sanskritic origin. There are lakes in India which have this name, for example there is one in Kumaon in Uttarakhand. Even Provadiya is Sanskritic, and can be explained by 'Pravadin' (प्रवादिन्), 'that which makes a sound'.

About the name Varna its been said that it could be of Varangian origin, as Varangians had been crossing the Black Sea for many years, reaching Constantinople in the early Middle Ages. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language states that the name might derive from the Proto-Indo-European root *u̯er- "to flow, wet, water, river". But PIE itself is best expounded upon by Sanskrit which contains  words with the most appropriate meanings - 'Vari' (वरी) is river or stream, 'vArI' (वारी) is water, 'vAri' (वारि) is rain, vArira (वारिर) cloud, variSA (वरिषा) rainy season.

According to Theophanes, in 680 Asparukh, the founder of the First Bulgarian Empire, routed an army of Constantine IV near the Danube delta and, pursuing it, reached the so-called Varna near the city, which was then called Odessos . The latter is often said to be of Carian origin, which was spoken in ancient Anatolia. The Carian language is also of Indo-European origins and hence the name Odessos can be explained by the Sanskrit 'audaKa' (औदका) which means 'town surrounded by water'.

The name Odessa can be explained
by Sanskrit 'Audaka' which means
'town surrounded by water'

Saturday 5 August 2017

MEXICO - THE SANSKRIT INDIA CONNECT

A reconstruction of the ruined Temple of Tenochitilan
has features of vaastu-shastra of South Indian Temples

Mexico, today officially known as the United Mexican States, was home to many advanced Mesoamerican civilizations in the pre-Colombian era before its first contact with Europeans in the early 1500s. In Nahuatl, the native language of the Mexicans, Mēxihcoor Machico - was a term used to refer to the heartland of the Aztec Empire, namely, the Valley of Mexico. Its capital was known as Tenochitilan.

There is much debate on the etymology of the name Mexico and Tenochitilan. It has been suggested that Mexico is derived from Mextli or Mēxihtli, a secret name for the god of war Huitzilopochtli. The name Tenochtitlan was thought to come from Nahuatl 'tetl' (rock) and 'nōchtli' (prickly pear) and is often thought to mean 'among the prickly pears growing among rocks'. However, one attestation in the late 16th-century manuscript known as 'the Bancroft dialogues' questioned the logic here, so that the true etymology of both the words remains uncertain.

Mainstream historians ignore the theory propounded by many other scholars who are of the view that there is a definite connect to the etymology of Mexico with Sanskrit. The basis for this is the many common features and attributes in the culture, the remains of Aztec architecture and languages spoken by pre-Colombian natives of the Aztec empire to that of some of the ancient cultures of Asia.


In his book 'Hindu America' Professor Chamanlal quotes a paragraph from a publication of the Govt of Mexico which says, "Those who first arrived on the continent later to be known as America were groups of men driven by that mighty current that set out from India towards the East "— History of Mexico (Mexican Government Publication).

He also quotes 
Professor Raman Mena, who then was the Curator of the National Museum of Mexico and states, " The (Maya) human types are like those of India. The irreproachable technique of their reliefs , the sumptuous head dress and ostentatious buildings on high, the system of construction, all speak of India....".

In his book 'Primitive Traditional History', James Francis Hewitt stated, "Hindu merchants brought to Mexico the eighteen- months year of the Pandavas and the custom of trade guild and Indian bazaar."— pp . 834-36.

In the Asiatic Society Researches, Volume 11, published in 1808, Major F. Wilford states in his paper 'An Essay on the Sacred Isles in the West', "....various etymologies are given of the name of the city of Mexico, the true pronunciation of which is Machico. The most probable is from the Sanscrit Matsya, or Mach'ha, fish; and, in a derivative form, Matssyacha, and Mach'hica. This word, in the Machico language, is pronounced Mecho, and Mechoa. According to the learned Abbe Clavigero, a native of that country, the name of the town and province of Mechoacan, signifies the place of fish. In Hindi, Mach'hi-c''han'a implies the same, and Mach'hwa-c'hana, a place of fishermen, or Mechoa-can...In the Mexican tongue Teu-Calli signifies the house or cell of god, in Latin Dei-cella, which is to be pronounced Dei-kella....".

Major Wilford links the suffix 'co' in Mexico and -kella in Latin to the Sanskrit 'kula' (house). Examples in Sanskri scripures include names such as 'deva-kula' (देव-कुल) or 'house of god'. The prefix 'Teu' in Teu-Calli according to Wilford is a distortion of Sanskrit 'dev', or god, which we know changes to 'deu' in Latin. The largest Teucalli in Mexico (picture above) was located in Tenochitilan which was the most venerated of them all.


Suggested Readings & Links:

1. Asiatic Researches or Transactions of the Society instituted in Bengal, Volume 11
2. Nahuatl-English Dictionary
3. History of Mexico by Francesco S. Clavigero, 1806
4. Sanskrit Scholars in Spain and Mexico by Juan Miguel De Mora
5. Mexico - Siva Temple
6. Avestan-English dictionary

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