Uppsala

Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R)

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Map of Sweden

Uppsala is the county seat of Uppsala County and the fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö.

Variants

• Upsal
• Upsala
• Gamla Uppsala (Swedish "Old Uppsala")

Location

Located 71 km north of the capital Stockholm it is also the seat of Uppsala Municipality. Since 1164, Uppsala has been the ecclesiastical centre of Sweden, being the seat of the Archbishop of the Church of Sweden. Uppsala is home to Scandinavia's largest cathedral – Uppsala Cathedral, which was the frequent site of the coronation of the Swedish monarch until the late 19th century.

Uppsala Castle, built by King Gustav Vasa, served as one of the royal residences of the Swedish monarchs, and was expanded several times over its history, making Uppsala the secondary capital of Sweden during its greatest extent. Today it serves as the residence of the Governor of Uppsala County.

Founded in 1477, Uppsala University is the oldest centre of higher education in Scandinavia. Among the many scholars associated with the city are Anders Celsius, inventor of the centigrade temperature scale that now bears his name, and Carl Linnaeus, the father of taxonomy.

History

Uppsala was originally the name of a place a few kilometres north of the current city, now known as Gamla Uppsala (Old Uppsala). Today's Uppsala was then called Östra Aros (Eastern Aros, to differentiate it from Western Aros). (Old) Uppsala was, according to medieval writer Adam of Bremen, the main pagan centre of Sweden, and the Temple at Uppsala contained magnificent idols of the Norse gods. The Kungsängen plains along the river south of Uppsala have been identified as a possible match for Fyrisvellir, the site of the Battle of Fyrisvellir in the 980s. The present-day Uppsala was at that time a port town of Gamla Uppsala. In 1160, King Eric Jedvardsson was attacked and killed outside the church of Östra Aros, and later became venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. In 1274, Östra Aros overtook Gamla Uppsala as the main regional centre, and when the cathedral of Gamla Uppsala burnt down, the archbishopric and the relics of Saint Eric were moved to Östra Aros, where the present-day Uppsala Cathedral was erected; it was inaugurated in 1435. The cathedral is built in the Gothic style and is one of the largest in northern Europe, with towers reaching 118.70 metres (389.4 ft).

The city is the site of the oldest university in Scandinavia, founded in 1477, and is where Carl Linnaeus, one of the renowned scholars of Uppsala University, lived for many years; both his house and garden can still be visited. Uppsala is also the site of the 16th-century Uppsala Castle. The city was severely damaged by a fire in 1702.

Historical and cultural treasures were also lost, as in many Swedish cities, from demolitions during the 1960s and 1970s, but many historic buildings remain, especially in the western part of the city. The arms bearing the lion can be traced to 1737 and have been modernised several times, most recently in 1986. The meaning of the lion is uncertain, but is likely connected to the royal lion, also depicted on the Coat of Arms of Sweden.

In ecclesiastical terms, the place has always belonged to Uppsala parish, from 1961 called Uppsala cathedral parish. The incorporated parts of Uppsala belong to Gamla Uppsala parish, Helga Trefaldighets parish and Vaksala parish. After parish break-up in 1974, parts of the town are located in Gottsunda parish. After further building expansion, some are also in Denmark-Funbo parish, before 2010 in Denmark parish.

Until 1971, the town was part of the district court for Uppsala City Hall Court and has been part of the Uppsala Court since 1971.

Temple at Uppsala

The Temple at Uppsala was a religious center in the ancient Norse religion once located at what is now Gamla Uppsala (Swedish "Old Uppsala"), Sweden attested in Adam of Bremen's 11th-century work Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum and in Heimskringla, written by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century. Theories have been proposed about the implications of the descriptions of the temple and the findings of the archaeological excavations in the area, along with recent findings of extensive wooden structures and log lines that may have played a supporting role to activities at the site, including ritual sacrifice. The temple was destroyed by King Inge the Elder in the 1080s.

Heimskringla: In the Ynglinga saga compiled in Heimskringla, Snorri presents a euhemerized origin of the Norse gods and rulers descending from them. In chapter 5, Snorri asserts that the æsir settled in what is now Sweden and built various temples. Snorri writes that "Odin took up his residence at the Maelare lake, at the place now called Old Sigtun. There he erected a large farm shrine (hof), where there were offerings (blót) according to the customs of the Asaland people. He appropriated to himself the whole of that district, and called it Sigtun. To the shrine spirits (hofgoðunum) he gave also dwelling places. Njörðr dwelt in Nóatún, Frey in Upsal, Heimdal in the Himinbergs, Thor in Thrudvang, Balder in Breidablik; to all of them he gave good estates."

In chapter 10, after Njörðr has died, his son Freyr comes to power and "he was called the king of Swedes and received tribute from them." Freyr's subjects loved him greatly, and he was "blessed by good seasons like his father." According to the saga, Freyr "erected a great shrine at Uppsala and made his chief residence there, directing it to all tribute due to him, both lands and chattels. This was the origin of the Uppsala crown goods, which have been kept up ever since."

Getic Asii

James Todd writes.....The Getic Asii carried this veneration for the steed, symbolic of their chief deity the sun, into Scandinavia : equally so of all the early German tribes, the Su, Suevi, Chatti, Sucimbri, Getae, in the forests of Germany, and on the banks of the Elbe and Weser. The milk-white steed was supposed to be the organ of the gods, from whose neighing they calculated future events ; notions possessed also by the Aswa, sons of Budha (Woden), on the Yamuna and Ganges, when the rocks of Scandinavia and the shores of the Baltic were yet untrod by man. It was this omen which gave Darius Hystaspes ¹ (hinsna, ' to neigh,' aspa, ' a horse ') a crown. The bard Chand makes it the omen of death to his principal heroes. The steed of the Scandinavian god of battle was kept in the temple of Upsala, and always " found foaming and sweating after battle." " Money," says Tacitus, " was only acceptable to the German when bearing the effigies of the horse." ²

In the Edda we are informed that the Getae, or Jats, who entered Scandinavia, were termed Asi, and their first settlement As-gard. ³

Pinkerton rejects the authority of the Edda and follows Torfaeus, who " from Icelandic chronicles and genealogies concludes Odin to have come into Scandinavia in the time of Darius Hystaspes, five hundred years before Christ."

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1 [Hystaspes is from old Persian, Vishtaspa, ' possessor of horses.' The author derives it from a modern Hindi word hinsna, ' to neigh,' possibly from recollection of the story in Herodotus iii. 85.]

2 [He possibly refers to the statement (Germania, v.), that their coins bore the impress of a two-horse chariot.]

3 Asirgarh, ' fortress of the Asi ' [IGI, vi. 12].

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[p.78]: This is the period of the last Buddha, or Mahavira, whose era is four hundred and seventy-seven years before Vikrama, or five hundred and thirty-three before Christ.

The successor of Odin in Scandinavia was Gotama ; and Gautama was the successor of the last Buddha, Mahavira, ¹ who as Gotama, or Gaudama, is still adored from the Straits of Malacca to the Caspian Sea.

" Other antiquaries," says Pinkerton, " assert another Odin, who was put as the supreme deity one thousand years before Christ" [65].

Mallet admits two Odins, but Mr. Pinkerton wishes he had abided by that of Torfaeus, in 500 A.C.

It is a singular fact that the periods of both the Scandinavian Odins should assimilate with the twenty-second Buddha [Jain Tirthakara], Neminath, and twenty-fourth and last, Mahavira ; the first the contemporary of Krishna, about 1000 or 1100 years, the last 533, before Christ. The Asii, Getae, etc., of Europe worshipped Mercury as founder of their line, as did the Eastern Asi, Takshaks, and Getae. The Chinese and Tatar historians also say Buddha, or Fo, appeared 1027 years before Christ. " The Yuchi, established in Bactria and along the Jihun, eventually bore the name of Jeta or Yetan, ² that is to say, Getae. Their empire subsisted a long time in this part of Asia, and extended even into India. These are the people whom the Greeks knew under the name of Indo-Scythes. Their manners are the same as those of the Turks . ³ Revolutions occurred in the very heart of the East, whose consequences were felt afar." ⁴

The period allowed by all these authorities for the migration of these Scythic hordes into Europe is also that for their entry into India.

The sixth century is that calculated for the Takshak from Sheshnagdesa ; and it is on this event and reign that the Puranas declare, that from this period " no prince of pure blood would be

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1 The great [maha) warrior [vir). [Buddha lived 567-487 b.c. : Mahavira, founder of Jainism, died about 527 B.C.]

2 Yeutland was the name given to the whole Cimbric Chersonese, or Jutland (Pinkerton, On the Goths).

3 Turk, Turushka, Takshak, or ' Taunak, fils de Tnrc ' (Abulghazi, History of the Tatars).

4 Histoire des Huns, vol. i. p. 42.

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[p. 79]: found, but that the Sudra, the Turushka, and the Yavan, would prevail."

All these Indo-Scythic invaders held the religion of Buddha : and hence the conformity of manners and mythology between the Scandinavian or German tribes and the Rajputs increased by comparing their martial poetry.

Similarity of religious manners affords stronger proofs of original identity than language. Language is eternally changing — so are manners ; but an exploded custom or rite traced to its source, and maintained in opposition to climate, is a testimony not to be rejected.

वोडेन:ठाकुर देशराज

ठाकुर देशराज ने लिखा है .... वोडेन - यह उद्धव वंशी जाट थे। इनके नायकत्व में ईसा से 500 वर्ष पूर्व है जाटों ने ईरान के असीरिया से उठकर स्केंडिनेविया में प्रवेश किया था। स्कंदनाभ के धर्म ग्रंथ एड्डा में इनका नाम ओडिन लिखा हुआ है। जाटों से पहले के वहां के

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[पृ.163]: निवासी मृतक लोगों को जलाते नहीं थे किंतु गाड़ देते थे। बोधेन ने उन लोगों को शिक्षा देकर जलाने की प्रणाली जारी करा दी थी। बोधेन की सेना में एक बलदार नाम का सरदार था वह लड़ाई में काम आ गया। बलदार की स्त्री का नाम नन्ना देवी था। वह अपने पति के साथ सती हो गई थी।

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