Hindu kingdoms in West Asia in the second millennium BC included the Mitanni of Syria, the Kassites of Mesopotamia.
Some scholars try to equate the deities venerated by the Mitanni with Vedic deities, and trace the names used by the aristocracy to Indo-Aryan roots. In a treaty between the Hittites and the Mitanni, the deities Mitra, Varuna, Indra, and Nasatya (Ashvins) are invoked. Kikkuli's horse training text includes technical terms such as aika (eka, one), tera (tri, three), panza (pancha, five), satta (sapta, seven), na (nava, nine), vartana (vartana, round). Another text has babru (babhru, brown), parita (palita, grey), and pinkara (pingala, red). Their chief festival was the celebration of the solstice (vishuva) which was common in most cultures in the ancient world. The Mitanni warriors were called marya, the term for warrior in Sanskrit as well.
External links
- - Hindu connections in Western Asia