Bharata Khanda

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This is a list of ancient kingdoms as reflected in the epic of the Mahabharata (ca. 9th to 3rd century BC). See History of India for a conventionally historical overview, in particular the articles on the realms. republics and kingdoms of the earlier Janapadas ca. (1200 to 600 BC), the Mahajanapadas ca. (600 to 300 BC) and the Middle kingdoms of India for ca. (230 BC to 1200 AD).

Bharata Khanda (or Bharata Ksetra^[1]) is a term used in Hindu texts, including the Vedas, Mahabharata, Ramayana and the Puranic, to describe the geographic region that encompassed the modern countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. The historical context of the Sanskrit epics are the Vedic period (1700-600 BC), Mahajanapadas (600 BC) and the subsequent formation of the Maurya Empire (322 BCE), the beginning of the "golden age" of Classical Sanskrit literature.

The name

In Hindu scriptures, Bharata Khanda is habitable world; the known land as experienced by the writers.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

The Kingdoms

The boundaries of the kingdoms

Often rivers formed the boundaries of two neighboring kingdoms, as was the case between the northern and southern Panchala and between the western (Pandava's Kingdom) and eastern (Kaurava's Kingdom) Kuru. Sometimes, large forests, which were larger than the kingdoms themselves, formed their boundaries as was the case of the Naimisha Forest between Panchala and Kosala kingdoms. Mountain ranges like Himalaya, Vindhya and Sahya also formed their boundaries.

The cities and villages

Some kingdoms possessed a main city that served as its capital. For example, the capital of Pandava's Kingdom was Indraprastha and the Kaurava's Kingdom was Hastinapura. Ahichatra was the capital of Northern Panchala whereas Kampilya was the capital of Southern Panchala. Kosala Kingdom had its capital as Ayodhya. Apart from the main city or capital, where the palace of the ruling king was situated, there were small towns and villages spread in a kingdom. Tax was collected by the officers appointed by the king from these villages and towns. What the king offered in return to these villages and towns was protection from the attack of other kings and robber tribes, as well as from invading foreign nomadic tribes. The king also enforced code and order in his kingdom by punishing the guilty.

Interactions between kingdoms

There was no border security for a kingdom and border disputes were very rare. One king might conduct a military campaign (often designated as Digvijaya meaning victory over all the directions) and defeat another king in a battle, lasting for a day. The defeated king would acknowledge the supremacy of the victorious king. The defeated king might sometimes be asked to give a tribute to the victorious king. Such tribute would be collected only once, not on a periodic basis. The defeated king, in most cases, would be free to rule his own kingdom, without maintaining any contact with the victorious king. There was no annexation of one kingdom by another. Often a military general conducted these campaigns on behalf of his king. A military campaign and tribute collection was often associated with a great sacrifice (like Rajasuya or Ashvamedha) conducted in the kingdom of the campaigning king. The defeated king also was invited to attend these sacrifice ceremonies, as a friend and ally.

New kingdoms

New kingdoms were formed when a major clan produced more than one King in a generation. The Kuru (kingdom) clan of Kings was very successful in governing throughout North India with their numerous kingdoms, which were formed after each successive generation. Similarly, the Yadava clan of kings formed numerous kingdoms in Central India.

Cultural differences in the kingdoms

Main article Bahlika Culture

Western parts of India were dominated by tribes who had a slightly different culture that was considered as non-Vedic by the mainstream Vedic culture prevailed in the Kuru and Panchala kingdoms. Similarly there were some tribes in the eastern regions of India, considered to be in this category. Tribes with non-Vedic culture specially those of barbaric nature were collectively termed as Mlechha. Very little was mentioned in the ancient Indian literature, about the kingdoms to the North, beyond the Himalayas. China was mentioned as a kingdom known as Cina, often grouped with Mlechcha kingdoms.

Kingdoms of Northern India

Kuru Kingdom	Panchala Kingdom	Vatsa Kingdom	Matsya Kingdom

Foreign Kingdoms of the North

Kamboja Kingdom	Darada Kingdom	Parada Kingdom	Parasika Kingdom
Tushara Kingdom	Huna Kingdom	Hara Huna Kingdom	Rishika Kingdom

Kingdoms of North Western India

Trigarta Kingdom	Salwa Kingdom	Madra Kingdom	Sindhu Kingdom	Sauvira Kingdom
Sivi Kingdom	Kekeya Kingdom	Gandhara Kingdom	Youdheya Kingdom	Kasmira Kingdom	Kamboja Kingdom

Foreign Kingdoms to the North-West

Bahlika Kingdom	Parama Kamboja Kingdom	Uttara Madra Kingdom	Uttara Kuru Kingdom
Yavana Kingdom	Khasa Kingdom	Saka Kingdom

Kingdoms of North-Central India

Kosala Kingdom	Kasi Kingdom	Videha Kingdom	Dakshina Kosala Kingdom	Malla Kingdom

Kingdoms of Western India

Saraswata Kingdom	Abhira Kingdom	Sudra Kingdom	Nishada Kingdom

Kingdoms of Western/Central India

Surasena Kingdom	Dwaraka Kingdom	Anarta Kingdom	Saurashtra Kingdom
Nishadha Kingdom	Gurjara Kingdom	Karusha Kingdom	Chedi Kingdom
Kunti Kingdom	Avanti Kingdom	Malava Kingdom	Heheya Kingdom	Dasarna Kingdom

Kingdoms of Central India

Vidarbha Kingdom	Anupa Kingdom	Surparaka Kingdom	Nasikya Kingdom
Konkana Kingdom	Asmaka Kingdom	Danda Kingdom	Kalinga Kingdom

Kingdoms of Eastern India

Magadha Kingdom	Kikata Kingdom	Anga Kingdom	Pragjyotisha Kingdom	Sonita Kingdom
Vanga Kingdom	Pundra Kingdom	Suhma Kingdom	Utkala Kingdom	Odra Kingdom

Kingdoms of Southern India

Andhra Kingdom	Kishkindha Kingdom	Gomanta Kingdom	Karnata Kingdom	Pallava Kingdom
Kanchi Kingdom	Tulu Kingdom	Mushika Kingdom	Chera Kingdom	Pandya Kingdom
Chola Kingdom	Mahishaka Kingdom	Satyaputra Kingdom	Ay Kingdom

Foreign Kingdoms of the south

Sinhala	Lanka

Kingdoms of the Himalayas

The table lands and valleys of the great Himalayan Mountain Ranges, which were almost inaccessible to the people settled in the Ganges, Sarasvati River and Sindhu river valleys, were inhabited by tribes who had very little interactions with the rest of the world. The domains of these tribes are listed below:

To know about the mythological aspects of these exotic tribes see Hindu mythology. To know about the historical significance of these tribes see the Exotic tribes of ancient India.

Kirata Kingdom	Himalaya Kingdom	Parvata Kingdom	Nepa Kingdom

References

↑ Dikshitar, Ramachandra (1993-01-01). The Gupta Polity. ISBN 9788120810242.
↑ Buchanan, Francis (1988) [1807], A journey from Madras through the countries of Mysore, Canara and Malabar, Volume 1, Asian Educational Services, ISBN 978-81-206-0386-8
↑ Buchanan, Francis (1807), A Journey from Madras Through the Countries of Mysore, Canara and Malabar, Volume 2, T. Cadell and W. Davies
↑ Buchanan, Francis (1807), A Journey from Madras Through the Countries of Mysore, Canara and Malabar, Volume 3, T. Cadell and W. Davies
↑ Hamilton, Francis (1988). A journey from Madras through the countries of Mysore, Canara, and Malabar. ISBN 9788120603868.

External links

Mahabharata of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa (English translation is available at http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/maha/index.htm)
Ramayana of Valmiki (English translation is available at http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/index.htm)

Tribes and kingdoms mentioned in the Mahabharata

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