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GANGA - 1st KOLI WIFE OF KING SHANTANU :
The story of Ganga, who was described as the wife of king Shantanu of solar race was a wonderful myth created to hide the caste identity of Ganga. She was the daughter of a koli fishermen chief in the ganga river basin. Let us first read the story and then discuss the reality behind the story.
King Shanutanu one day came across a beautiful woman on the river bank. He fell in love with her and asked her to be his wife. She gave her consent on the condition that he would never protest or question her for anything she did and that the moment he would break his promise, she would leave him, never to return. "So be it!" said the King and married her. Days passed by; seven sons were born to the King; but every time their mother - Ganga drowned the infant into the river. Bound by his promise the king could not protest; but when the eight son was born the king could no longer contain himself. He protested. Then his wife revealed to him that she was the river godess Ganga and that her children were Vasus (angelic beings)_ who were expelled from heaven for some transgressions and had to live on earth for a while. The killing of the seven sons really enabled them to return to heaven with least delay. Shantanu wanted his eight son as his heir. Ganga consented; but she took him away to educate him after promising the king to restore him to the king as a noble youth and a brave prince. She kept her promise to the king and after some years restored him back to the king as the greatest knight of the times. He was named Devavrata who came later to be known as Bhishma.
Ganga was born in a Kaivartta ( koli) hamlet on the Ganges Valley. When her relationship with Santanu was severed, she, along with her eighth child, had returned to the same Kaivartta hamlet and reared him up. Later on this child came to be known as Gangaputra (son of Ganga) or Gangeya. As he was born from a Kshatriya father and a Kaivartta mother, he should be a Mahisya or a Kaivartta. But from the point of view of his nature, work and occupation, he was famous as the greatest Kshatriya warrior in his contemporary society. While the 8th child Deva vavrat was returned to king Shantanu, the elder seven were retained with her in koli helmet.
It is also very much doubtful whether ganga drowned her seven children born to Shantanu or passed on them them to be brought up by her koli people ? It is unbelievable that there was any valid reason for her to drown the children in the river ganges as they were born to a powerful king. The children were not only born to a powerful king but born out of wedlock between them. Most probably, Ganga ad chosen Shantanu as a progenetor to give birth to a racially superior children and brought them up through her koli samaj people in koli helmet without the knowledge og king Shantanu. She might have the children to their koli people either directly by her or left them in a boat the way kunti had done it. The women of theose puranic times enjoyed the rights to choose a husband (progenetor) of their choice to give birth to their children. The descendants of those seven children could be the gangas or gangeyas who founded the kingdoms of ganga dynasty in South India.
From the above discussions, we can rationally conclude that Gangaputra or Gangeya, the son of Santanu of solar dynasty and Ganga, the fisher-woman was a Mahishya or a Kaivartta. Due to his nature, work and occupation, later on he achieved the fame of being the greatest Kshatriya, Devabrata or Bhisma. Considering his birth, he can be called a Mahishya or a Kshatriya. Chodaganga Dev has given hints to this effect while claiming himself to be a descendant of Gangeya in Korni copperplate inscription. From the above discussions, it is obvious that the origin of the Ganga royal dynasty and that of the common people of Ganga dynasty were one and the same and all of them belonged to the Kaivartta or Mahishya community. Hence we can say that the Ganga dynasty has originated from the tradition rich, glorious and ancient Dasa-Kaivartta race or community.
How gangas proclaimed themselves as solar race ?
Ailas were a dynasty of kings of ancient India. Pururavas was the most famous Aila King. The Indian epic Mahabharata has the following mention about Ailas - The numerous royal lines and other ordinary Kshatriyas all represent themselves to be the descendants of Aila and Ikshwaku. The descendants of Aila, as indeed, the kings of Ikshwaku’s race, are, know each divided into a hundred separate dynasties.
(i) One should also name Pururavas of the Solar race. He was the son of Ila and celebrated over the three worlds. One should, indeed, take the name of that dear son of Vudha. Here Pururavas is mentioned to be of solar race (Solar Dynasty).
(ii) The lineage of Aila dynasty extending from Puru to Santanu, is described as the lineage of Aila kings. Here Aila dynasty is equated with the Lunar Dynasty.
Gangas had declared themselves as solar race kings after accepting the line as explained at (i). The reason could also be that Queen Ganga was the daughter of a Kaivarta (koli) and Kaivartas were solar race people.
Queen Ganga perhaps never drowned her fist seven sons born to Shantanu in the river ganga and she also never vanished into the river ganga as said in the story. It was all a my created by thye story tellers to suppress the truth that Shantanu married a Dravidian Koli girl which was normally accepted by Aryans. She perhaps gave her seven sons to her parents of ganga samaj to be brought up as ganga warriors. After deserting Shantanu, she never vanished into river Ganga but joined her parents and seven children along with the eight child Devavrat. As promised to Shantanu, She sent back Deva vrat to Shantanu when the boy grew up little bigger. But remained herself with her parents and seven sons in the Ganga (koli) community. These seven gangas or gangeyas later on became the forefathers to later generation of Gangas who founded their own dynasty in South India.
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