Boghazkoi inscription
Also called: Boghazkoy inscription · Topic: The Vedic Age · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Boghazkoi inscription is a clay-tablet treaty found at Boghazkoy (also spelled Boghazkoi) in Turkey. This was once the capital of the Hittite kingdom. The treaty calls on the gods Indra, Mitra, Varuṇa and the Nāsatyas as witnesses. These are also Ṛigvedic deities. It is one of the earliest pieces of evidence, from outside India, of gods linked with Vedic culture. It shows that people in West Asia knew these gods at that time.
Example
The treaty was made in c. 1380 BCE between the Hittite king Suppiluliuma and the Mitanni king Shattiwaza. The Mitanni ruled in northern Syria. Indra, Mitra, Varuṇa and the Nāsatyas are named among the witnesses to the agreement.
Don't confuse with
- A date for the Ṛigveda: the inscription only shows that these gods were known in West Asia by c. 1380 BCE. It does not fix when the Ṛigveda was composed. That date is still debated, with estimates ranging from the fifth to the second millennium BCE.