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ORIGIN OF BRAIMIN GOTRAS
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tion, conquest favours a new stylc in names, as seen from Greck names adopted by Jews. Proponents of the "extra-vcdic Aryans" thcory would have to postulatc rathcr complicated rclationships bctwccn groups of Aryans not known to have cxistcd ; at the same timc, thc rccurrcncc of Indus Valley types in later iconography would be very difficult to cxplain.
ADOPTED PRIESTS
8. Looking closcly at the first list of Sudās's cncmics in vii. 18.5-7, we find the following* : Simyu, Turvasa, Yakşu, Matsya, Druhyu, Bhrgu, Paktha, Bhalāna, Vişñņin, Alina (and perhaps Thic Sivas) ; in vii.83.7, the ten kings opposing Sudis arc called ayajyava), "without the fire sacrifice." The notable occurrence here is of the Bhrgus, who cannot then have been merely Brahmin priests. This is to some extent supported by the surviving designation bhārgava (?“tlic roaster") for a potter, which is quite natural if fire were the particular technique of the Bhrgus, as it appears to be in the Rgveda. Their chariot receives special mention in iv.16.20 and x.39.14 by the phrasc bhrgavo na ratham. Hence, they arc a complete tribe, with all the professions. If their name survives only as that of a Brahmin gotra, it must be because some of them managed to become pricsts of the Aryans. That they were not always Aryans themselves would follow from vi.18.7, which specifically mentions Indra, as the friend of the Aryans, bringing aid to the other side. That the Indus vallcy culture could exist without strong class differences is incrediblc, and their pricst class must have had specially refined ceremonial, which would cnablc them to be adopted fairly casily into the priesthood of the conqucrors, provided they took up the new cults.
It is quite simple now to show that there arc other elements besides the Bhỉgus which are so assimilated. Kutsa, for example, counts as a Bharadvāja gotra with Kautsa (GPN.63.14,165.21,61.4); it is therefore natural to find Kutsa the author of i.94-8. But in the body of the vcda we read conflicting stories about him, for hc is at times favoured by Indra and at times crushed ; thc first may be seen in x.49.4 and the second in i.53.10. This can be explained
*Some of thesc names may be adjectives, but this scems a reasonable way to make up the dāšarājfia ; ¡ust which people arc qualified as Šivāsas is not clcar, so possibly The Sivas arc one more tribe. The econd battle is assumed to be distinct from the first.
