March of Patriots

Prologue to Nadavara History

Over three thousand years ago, arguably the Aryan nomads of the northern India
transformed the settlement into an organized society. After establishing dominance in
the north, they started their expedition towards southern India. The Aryans, who
formed the Kshatriya faction, the dedicated warrior contingent, instituted the laws of
war, Dharamshastra. The Sanskrit words Kshetra (territory) and Kshatriya (warrior)
originated from the Zoroastrian (ancient Persian language) word Kshatra, meaning
power or supremacy. Dharmashastra governed the ethics of the Kshatriyas and
conventions of Dharma Yudha (lawful war) that replaced unconventional wars. The
bylaws of war were created to protect the innocent men, women, and children from the
rampage of wars. The kings were selected from the Kshatriya sect because of their
martial ability. A relatively small group of people fought the wars within the
constraints of Dharmasutra, the strategies and regulations of war. The warriors, based
on their ability and compatibility were selectively chosen and, therefore, constituted a
smaller group. In the antiquated agrarian economy, Brahmins studied the Vedas;
Kshatriyas protected the land and the rest were involved in the productivity of sorts to
sustain the population of the land. However, Dharmashastra and Dharmasutra held
back the progress in the art of warfare, but promoted sophisticated philosophies and
altruism. The ancient Indians instituted righteous combat codes, which paradoxically
promoted peace.

Ancient civilizations all around the world were aspired to explore and surmount
greater images than their own. The ambitions of well-planned and hard fought wars of
the Greek and Roman Empires went far beyond the glory of victories to reach
romanticized places of bliss and happiness. Julius Caesar invaded Egypt to marry
Cleopatra. Alexander the Great conquered India to reach the mythical lands end. In
contrast, Indian civilizations were intrigued by the mysticism of cosmos. The Vedic

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teachings of India did not trace the stereotype traditional religious path. The intention
of the original Vedic philosophy was to create an adaptable religion that could adjust to
the dynamic state of ever-changing physical environment. The Vedic preaching made
Indians to be the intellectual idealists to overcome the mystery of the surrounding
nature and its infinite potential energy. Whats afterlife? haunted them for centuries.
They attempted to define the spiritual-world ignoring the possessive human qualities.
In the process, the art of warfare and usage of weaponry were ignored. The progress in
combative skills was lackluster when compared to many other contemporary
civilizations. Except for a few great empires such as Maurya, Gupta, Vijayanagara and
Mughals, ancient India was ruled by a countless number of small kings. They fought
numerous aggressive wars for territorial gains or expansion of their religious beliefs.
The Indian dynasties were short lived as the empires and kingdoms struggled to sustain
their realm because of the counteracting forces of the diverse ethnicities.

The ancient and medieval western civilizations created substantial records of

calligraphy to proudly establish their ownership on the material and intellectual realms.
The testimonial records left behind still exist as legendary monuments of their heroic
existence. Ancient India till the middle of first millennium was believed to be one of the
cradles of civilizations; from India, the strings of culture, language, art, and science had
spread all over the world. Scholars from Arabia, Persia, Balkan, Mesopotamia, Turkey,
Greece and China came to the universities of ancient India (Taxila, Nalanda, Ujjaini and
Puspagiri) to study astronomy, mathematics, pharmacology, and philosophy.
However, India never asserted the pride of ownership on its creativity or inventions, as
all along Vedas preached the grandeur of selflessness. India, historically, somewhat
lacked the habit of preserving its establishments or citations. In addition, the frictional
forces caused by the ethnic differences destroyed scores of the valuable works. The
architectural marvels of Vijayanagara, now in a massive hill of rubble, is the standing
example of the ills caused by the religious hatred that haunted India for centuries. In the
absence of ancient records, it is relatively complicated to fully narrate Indias past,
unlike the extensive descriptions of the history of Europe.

The historical writings of India pertaining to ancient and middle age eras were at times
skewed to appeal to certain religious beliefs and ethnicities. Usually stories accepted by
the masses were the ones that prevailed. The history was written to please the
mainstream instead of stating the lackluster truth. The authenticity of historical reports
or versions was quite often adulterated by compassionate bias or political contrive. Also
the lack of relevant information supporting the historical events made it quite difficult
to connect and conclude the facts of the ancient times in a chronological order. The
anecdotal stories, even though at times subjective, played an important role in filling
the voids created by the absence of data. Consequently, the interpretation of historical

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reality somewhat differed amongst historians. There were many variations of the same
story; some were even falsified. Quite frequently, historical event reasoning was
established on prejudiced or fantasized views. There are instances where Indias
historical corroborations were influenced by various religious epics or mythology that
added mystical tone to the history. Even in certain textbooks, history was narrated like
fairy tales of the Wonderland. Mythology may not be real but certainly can be used to
understand the culture and thinking of the people of the past. However, arguments
over the trustworthiness of historical writings can be looked upon as an ongoing
healthy corrective process, which involves a combined effort of many researchers of
many generations.

March of Patriots, is an investigative historical essay that presents the aspirations and
hardships of Nadavaras since the dawn of the Rashtrakutas of Malwa and Kalachuris of
Rajasthan. The history of the Nadavara expeditions suggests a typical Kshatriya
migratory mold of the medieval times. Thirteen centuries of history-spanning events
were chosen exclusively to make Nadavara the central theme. In the early historical
trace, Nadavaras were schemers and perpetrators. During and after colonial rule, they
became reactors to situations. Their exodus throughout their history was initiated
entirely as a quest for incursion. Occasionally their passion for dominance and their
action to uphold authority did not concur and they faced grave consequences resulting
in retreat to salvage defeats. Their migratory routes were sidetracked and took
unintended diversions in search of havens to safeguard their lives. At times their
missions turned into fatal catastrophes and still they continued to live as warriors. The
risky martial occupation of many generations tempered the community to face adverse
conditions with unity and dignity. Much of their philosophical stance was hinged on
their struggle for independence and self-gratifying ego.

Gaetano Salvemini, a teacher and historian at Harvard University, once said The
historian has before him a jigsaw puzzle from which many pieces have disappeared.
These gaps can be filled only by his imagination. The March of Patriots makes an effort
to view the hazy reflections of the Nadavara history through a vantage point. The
noteworthy and obtrusive manifestations of the past are based on the enlightened
writings of various historians and anecdotal stories. The traditions of the past are
gradually receding to make place for the changes due to modernization. Some of the
ancient Nadavara deeds in the areas such as, war and peace, arrogance and protection,
lineage and community, are reflected in bits and pieces on conduct and customs of the
present generations. Nadavaras still practice some of their ancestral Kshatriya traditions
that were resourceful data points to build a bridge between their past and present. The
book occasionally projects Nadavara present traditions backwards into the past to
assimilate their journey though their adventurous history.

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The evolvement of human psyche is partly dependent on the experience of social

surroundings and influence of cultural background. The knowledge of ancestry learnt
during childhood helps the growth of self awareness and confidence during the
developmental stages. As the knowledge of the past expands, the sense of ones
existence becomes noteworthy. That is why the people in the Western World give such
an importance to their family trees. The writings of Indian history were scant before the
Westerners wrote numerous annals on Indias past. In many instances the history of
India written by the English was erroneous including the migration of Aryans from the
central Asia. Generally, a historical writing maintains its continuity only if each
successive endeavor adds to the work of former generations. Many facts in March of
Patriots are the translation of the primary works of authors of the past century. The
book in general is a chronicle of descriptive history of Nadavara. In many instances the
chronology was interrupted by the later or earlier events to provide better
understanding of the historical proceedings.

The book tackles many debatable issues with methodological research based on
historical data and viewpoints of experts on the matter. Anecdotal data, which at times
referred in social sciences may be from poor observation or biased thinking. Also
seldom the writers of the subsequent generations bent the stories to suit the thinking of
their time. With the help of many authorities on the subject, efforts were made to
rationally analyze and portray the available information close to reality. In addition the
analyses may open new avenues for the further research of the Nadavara history.
However, the assembled isolated historical events fill only a small fraction of the
thirteen centuries of Nadavara journey from the Malwa region and Rajasthan to the
southern Konkan. Hopefully, the data will be helpful in the future to broaden the
history of the Nadavaras of Uttara Kannada and also of the other contemporaneous
ethnic groups along the timeline.

Raj Gaonkar, New Haven