Dakṣiṇa Kaparda-The Identity of Vasiṣṭhas
A short note on how ancient people identified each other.
In order to comprehend the conduct of modern man in the Indian Subcontinent from earlier times, when language had only just begun to develop, I recently immersed myself in anthropological research. In addition to their languages and other habits, we observe that the various tribes around the world have distinct cultures in terms of appearance. Being different compared to other flock members is one of the behaviors of contemporary humans. When did this idea start to take on a new appearance? Why was it necessary to look different? And how Asian subclades that migrated to Europe (Germany-Suebian knot, Russia-Khokhol), Africa (Fulani, Himba, etc.), South-East Asia, some regions of China (Manchuria-A queue or cue hairstyle), Japan (Chonmage), etc., adopted a very similar kind of tuft hairdo behavior.
Interestingly enough, southern Chinese used to call Manchurians suotou “braided”.
In fact, braiding gave them a typical identity that was extremely comparable to that of the Brahmins with the tuft or Nair men and women in ancient India. We don’t know how old, but this seems to be a global phenomenon. It is, in fact, a modern human behaviour to lead a certain way of life.
Here ‘Modern Human Behavior’ is not just a statement, it contains some of its own humanities and societal behavior. Modern behavior includes and emerges from Middle to Upper Paleolithic period. These modern human behaviour include…
- Burial
- Fishing
- Figurative art (Cave paintings, petroglyphs, dendroglyphs, figurine)
- Systematic use of pigment (such as ochre) and jewelry for decoration or self ornamentations
- Using bone material for tools
- Transport of resources over long distances
- Stone Axe technology
- Stone Blade technology
- Diversity, standardization, and regionally distinct artifacts
- Hearths
- Composite tools
- Housing, etc
What about the cultures, architecture attesting these Modern behavior of humans? One who wants to understand the modern behavior in detail can read a brief here. In India the most advanced modern behavior, which continued till recently, w.r.t any other culture of the world, happened at least during 45,000 yBP. One can read about Riwat Site at Sohan ( Rg-Vedic sushoma) River Valley, now in Pakistan. This site, called Riwat Site 55, shows a later occupation dated to around 45,000 years ago, during Middle to Upper Paleolithic period Site. This site shows the footing of the wall in parts very clearly. This not only shows that they were highly skilled people but also show that people were communicating and had language. Since to advance into such an art of community indulgence one needs to communicate. This is quite evident that Language, speech and communication was already there from 2 lakh+ years. Some scientist speculate it from 4 lakh+ years as stone hand axe and its flaking in trade scale can only happen if one has been communicating well. Homo sapiens during Middle to Upper Paleolithic period were communicating intrinsically since they were advancing in the art and architecture and were trading in stone tools enormously.
The interesting feature of this Riwat site is due to the architectural footing of the wall evidence. The modern human behaviors can be seen very distinctly on this site which has its own Soanian Culture (500,000 yBP — 125,000 yBP), Indian contemporary to Acheulean, predecessor to Upper and Middle Paleolithic. Deem it as a prologue to the database on healthy and huge arguments to be followed in the future on ‘Language and its Origin’. This glimpse of ancient times is given to understand other modern human behaviour.
Back to the title of the article. Dakṣiṇa Kaparda-The Identity of Vasiṣṭhas
Kaparda means, ‘braid,’ Kapardin, ‘wearing braids.’ These words refer to the Vedic custom of wearing the hair in braids or plaits. Females used to have four plaited hair known as catuṣ-kapardā and is described in Rv. x. 114, 3.
चतु॑ष्कपर्दा युव॒तिः सु॒पेशा॑ घृ॒तप्र॑तीका व॒युना॑नि वस्ते ।
तस्यां॑ सुप॒र्णा वृष॑णा॒ नि षे॑दतु॒र्यत्र॑ दे॒वा द॑धि॒रे भा॑ग॒धेय॑म् ॥
Rudra and Pūṣan have also been described as wearing distinct hairstyle.
Vasiṣṭhas were distinguished by wearing their hair in a plait form on the right (dakṣiṇatas-kaparda). The opposite was to wear one’s hair ‘plain’ known as pulasti probably like the contemporary tuft being kept by the Brahmins. Below is the picture of a Himba tribal child from the photographic collection of Anneliese Scherz, 1940. I am showing a close resemblance to what Kaparda of Vasiṣṭhas would look like.
Such a braiding is also found on Khonsu’s head, the Lunar Egyptian God who was Tutankhamun’s brother. Refer to the pic 2 below.
I intentionally began the article by introducing Upper Paleolithic culture, referencing the 45,000–65,000-year-old remains of a wall at Riwat, located on one of the tributaries of the Ṛgvedic Sarasvati-Sindhu river system — specifically the Sushoma, which is now known as the Soan or Sohan River. Given my hypothesis that the Ṛgveda is far older than traditionally believed (as discussed in my blogs here), there was likely significant movement between the Soan sites to the east, west, and south during this time. The influence of Vedic-style braiding can be seen across a vast geographical range — from Africa to Japan and throughout Eurasia.
The Vasiṣṭha Gotra Brāhmins did not wear such braids even into the recent past, including the 18th century. We lack any pictorial, sketch, or inscriptional evidence regarding their hairstyles, and no documented memory of it survives. This suggests that the references to hairstyles in the Ṛgveda are from a much more ancient period. However, we do find somewhat similar styles among the Vellalas-Pillai and Nair men and women, though these do not involve braided plaits.
While traces of these ancient hairstyles are preserved in the Suebian knot of the Germans, documented by Tacitus in the 1st century AD, and among Africans, who maintained Vedic-like hairdos until recent times, such styles are not commonly found in contemporary Asia. This adds weight to the argument that the Ṛgveda predates the 1st century AD and aligns with evidence of migrations from Asia to Europe around 45,000 years ago. Genetic studies, such as those by Kivisild et al., have shown that haplogroup U branched from R, with origins in India dating back over 50,000 years. Stephen Oppenheimer also supports the view that India is likely the cradle of the Eurasian mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA) haplogroups, which he refers to as the “Eurasian Eves.”
The images above depict women of the Fulani tribe displaying the kaparda (cowrie) style hairdo on the top of their head. It is worth noting that we possess evidence of the mitochondrial haplogroup L3 tracing its migration back to Africa from the Indian subcontinent between approximately 60,000 and 80,000 BCE. Interestingly, the L3-Fulani people, even in contemporary times, bear a striking resemblance to individuals from the Indian subcontinent rather than conforming to the typical phenotypic traits associated with other African populations.
Isn’t it fascinating that the Ṛgveda mentions various hairstyles like pṛthu ṣṭuka (broad braids), viṣita-ṣṭuka (loosened braids), opaśa (horn-shaped, similar to the style seen in Nayar girls), and pulasti (wearing one’s hair plain)? There is also a reference to a top-knot, called stupa, in the Ṛgveda (Cf. RV vii. 2, 1; i. 24, 7). These different styles can be observed among Indian subclades outside India, yet such depictions are not found on Indus Valley Civilization seals or structures. This raises questions about the timeline of when the Vedas were conceived, especially Ṛgveda Samhita. I’m also curious if such references exist in our Itihāsas, Purāṇas, or texts like the Gṛhya Sūtras and Śrauta Sūtras, though I have yet to find concrete evidence. I will update as I uncover more.
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Note that Śikhaṇḍa and Śikhā denotes a ‘tuft’ or ‘lock,’ as a mode of wearing the hair, comes in the later Saṃhitās and the Brāhmaṇas.
