The Sun-Worshipping ??kadv?p?ya Br?hmaás. An Analysis of Their History and Customs from Ancient Times to the Present

The ??kadv?p?ya Br?hma?as are the main Hind? sun-worshippers in North-India. The aim of the research is to investigate and thematise the Iranian elements in the ??kadv?p?ya cult and costumes, taking into account all the primary and secondary sources. The analysis of the Pur??ic texts, in particular the sections from the S?mba- and the Bhavi?ya-pur??as, the legend of their migration to India (probably in the first centuries A.D.) and the lexicon contained in them, is fundamental to gathering some information about the ??kadv?p?yas. Moreover, the onomastic study of the late poem Magavyakti by Kr???ad?sa Mi?ra shows that even if there is no clear etymological connection with Old Iranian roots, there is still a strong connection with the modern Iranian world. I briefly discuss the content of other two later poems (Khalavaktracape?ik? by R?javallabha Mi?ra e S?mvavijaya), the epigraphic evidence, and the mention of the ??kadv?p?yas in Greek sources (cf. Ptolemy) and in Buddhist authors (Abhidharma literature and Bh?vaviveka). The analysis of the documents is enriched with the results of the interviews I carried out among the contemporary communities of ??kadv?p?ya Br?hma?as in Delhi, R?jasth?n (Udaipur, Jodhpur and B?k?ner) and Bih?r (Patna). The manifold topic requires manifold proficiencies: first, the knowledge of languages (Sanskrit, but also Avestan, Old Persian, Middle Persian and Bactrian; Prakrits for the onomastic analysis; elementary Hind? for supporting the interaction with modern communities). Moreover, a multidisciplinary approach is employed, which includes the disciplines of philology, onomastics and ethnography.