Editing Mahabharata (section)

== Historical context ==
The historicity of the [[Kurukshetra War]] is unclear. Many historians estimate the date of the Kurukshetra war to [[Iron Age India]] of the 10th century BCE.<ref>In discussing the dating question, historian A. L. Basham says: "According to the most popular later tradition the Mahabharata War took place in 3102&nbsp; BCE, which in the light of all evidence, is quite impossible. More reasonable is another tradition, placing it in the 15th century BCE, but this is also several centuries too early in the light of our archaeological knowledge. Probably the war took place around the beginning of the 9th century BCE; such a date seems to fit well with the scanty archaeological remains of the period, and there is some evidence in the Brahmana literature itself to show that it cannot have been much earlier." Basham, p. 40, citing HC Raychaudhuri, ''Political History of Ancient India'', pp.27ff.</ref> The setting of the epic has a historical precedent in Iron Age ([[Vedic India|Vedic]]) India, where the [[Kuru (kingdom)|Kuru]] kingdom was the center of political power during roughly 1200 to 800&nbsp;BCE.<ref>M Witzel, ''Early Sanskritization: Origin and Development of the Kuru state'', EJVS vol.1 no.4 (1995); also in B. Kölver (ed.), ''Recht, Staat und Verwaltung im klassischen Indien. The state, the Law, and Administration in Classical India'', München, R. Oldenbourg, 1997, p.27-52</ref> A dynastic conflict of the period could have been the inspiration for the ''Jaya'', the foundation on which the ''Mahābhārata'' corpus was built, with a climactic battle, eventually coming to be viewed as an epochal event.

[[Puranas|Puranic literature]] presents genealogical lists associated with the ''Mahābhārata'' narrative. The evidence of the Puranas is of two kinds. Of the first kind, there is the direct statement that there were 1,015 (or 1,050) years between the birth of [[Parikshit]] (Arjuna's grandson) and the accession of [[Mahapadma Nanda]] (400–329 BCE), which would yield an estimate of about 1400 BCE for the Bharata battle.<ref>A.D. Pusalker, ''History and Culture of the Indian People'', Vol I, Chapter XIV, p.273</ref> However, this would imply improbably long reigns on average for the kings listed in the genealogies.<ref>FE Pargiter, ''Ancient Indian Historical Tradition'', p.180. He shows estimates of the average as 47, 50, 31, and 35 for various versions of the lists.</ref> Of the second kind is analysis of parallel genealogies in the Puranas between the times of Adhisimakrishna ([[Parikshit]]'s great-grandson) and [[Mahapadma Nanda]]. Pargiter accordingly estimated 26 generations by averaging 10 different dynastic lists and, assuming 18 years for the average duration of a reign, arrived at an estimate of 850&nbsp; BCE for Adhisimakrishna, and thus approximately 950&nbsp; BCE for the Bharata battle.<ref>Pargiter, ''op.cit.'' p.180-182</ref>

[[File: Painted Grey Ware Culture (1200-600 BCE).png|thumb|Map of some [[Painted Grey Ware]] (PGW) sites.]]
[[B. B. Lal (archaeologist)|B. B. Lal]] used the same approach with a more conservative assumption of the average reign to estimate a date of 836 BCE, and correlated this with archaeological evidence from [[Painted Grey Ware]] (PGW) sites, the association being strong between PGW artifacts and places mentioned in the epic.<ref>B. B. Lal, ''Mahabharata and Archaeology'' in Gupta and Ramachandran (1976), p.57-58</ref> [[John Keay]] suggests "their core narratives seem to relate to events from a period prior to all but the Rig Veda."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Keay |first=John |author-link=John Keay |title=India: A History |year=2000 |publisher=Grove Press |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-8021-3797-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3aeQqmcXBhoC |pages=42 |access-date=22 September 2024 |archive-date=3 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703190805/https://books.google.com/books?id=3aeQqmcXBhoC |url-status=live }}</ref>

Attempts to date the events using methods of [[archaeoastronomy]] have produced, depending on which passages are chosen and how they are interpreted, estimates ranging from the late 4th to the mid-2nd millennium BCE.<ref>Gupta and Ramachandran (1976), p.246, who summarize as follows: "Astronomical calculations favor 15th century BCE as the date of the war while the Puranic data place it in the 10th/9th century BCE. Archaeological evidence points towards the latter." (p.254)</ref> The late 4th-millennium date has a precedent in the calculation of the ''[[Kali Yuga]]'' epoch, based on planetary conjunctions, by [[Aryabhata]] (6th century). Aryabhata's date of 18 February 3102 BCE for ''Mahābhārata'' war has become widespread in Indian tradition. Some sources mark this as the disappearance of [[Krishna]] from the Earth.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Lord-Krishna-lived-for-125-years/articleshow/844211.cms|title=Lord Krishna lived for 125 years &#124; India News – Times of India|website=The Times of India|date=8 September 2004|access-date=30 May 2020|archive-date=23 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023194614/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Lord-Krishna-lived-for-125-years/articleshow/844211.cms|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Aihole]] inscription of [[Pulakeshin II]], dated to Saka 556 = 634 CE, claims that 3,735 years have elapsed since the Bhārata battle, putting the date of ''Mahābhārata'' war at 3137BCE.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mid-day.com/articles/5151-years-of-gita/15033045|title=5151 years of Gita|date=19 January 2014|access-date=15 May 2015|archive-date=8 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108190821/http://www.mid-day.com/articles/5151-years-of-gita/15033045|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Gupta and Ramachandran (1976), p.55; AD Pusalker, HCIP, Vol I, p.272</ref>

Another traditional school of astronomers and historians, represented by [[Vrddha Garga]], [[Varāhamihira]] and [[Kalhana]], place the Bharata war 653 years after the ''Kali Yuga'' epoch, corresponding to 2449 BCE.<ref>AD Pusalker, ''op.cit.'' p.272</ref> According to Varāhamihira's ''[[Bṛhat Saṃhitā]]'' (6th century), [[Yudhishthara]] lived 2,526 years before the beginning of the [[Shaka era]], which begins in the 78 CE. This places Yudhishthara (and therefore, the Mahabharata war) around 2448–2449 BCE (2526–78). Some scholars have attempted to identify the "Shaka" calendar era mentioned by Varāhamihira with other eras, but such identifications place Varāhamihira in the first century BCE, which is impossible as he refers to the 5th century astronomer [[Aryabhata]]. [[Kalhana]]'s ''[[Rajatarangini]]'' (11th century), apparently relying on Varāhamihira, also states that the Pandavas flourished 653 years after the beginning of the Kali Yuga; Kalhana adds that people who believe that the Bharata war was fought at the end of the ''[[Dvapara Yuga]]'' are foolish.<ref>{{cite book |author=A.M. Shastri |author-link=Ajay Mitra Shastri |title=Varāhamihira and His Times |year=1991 |publisher=Kusumanjali |oclc=28644897 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mf0MAQAAMAAJ |pages=31–33, 37 |access-date=22 March 2023 |archive-date=3 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703135614/https://books.google.com/books?id=Mf0MAQAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>