Most Ancient Aryan Society

Author(s): Ram Chandra Jain
Publisher: Institute of Bharatalogical Research Sriganganagar Rajasthan

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Assembly of people, host, troop, army" and also "battle, war, fight, combat, conflict, hostile encounter with." Samgrāma is a compound word of Sam to grāma. Grāma means according to the same scholar, "a village, hamlet, the collective inhabitants of a place, community, a number of men associated together, multitude, troop." Prefix 'sa' is used in the sense of "with, together or alongwith, having, containing, having the same.38 Yāşka also traces the word to Sam + grāma in the sense of, "in which two groups come together”, “Sam' going back to Europāryan 'Som' 'with' and 'grāma' to Europāryan 'grem' 'to bring together'.88 The epithet grāma indicated the same meaning in territorial sense what the epithet Gaņa indicated in social sense. Grāma was the tribal collective living in a specified area. When it developed by additions and accretions of members, it became Samgrāma. As the tribal collective living in a specified space had not known peace and war, at that stage, in separate contexts; the epithet meant only a developing society. When in a later civlized stage, the function of war was separated from the function of peace; it came to signify battle or war only as it was the only known and accepted mode of tribal preservation and growth. Sarigrāma means ever-armed Gaña. Yajñas gave unfailing wealth to Aryan Gaņas. The Gaņa wealth was protected by the military might of the Ganapatis,84 Yajña is protected by Gaņa. 25 Gaņa and Ganapati are the bestowers of wealth obtained by powerful arms.86 The association of Yajña with weapons and Gaņa is significant. The Aryan military activities were Yajñas pursued by the Gaņas. Yajña is the Ganic military activity.
These Āryan Gaņas mainly acted as ever armed tribal military organisations in their migratory stage till they