Kuru Kingdom - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Kuru was the name of an ancient kingdom in Vedic India, and later a republic

Republic

A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...

an Mahajanapada

Mahajanapadas

Mahājanapadas , literally "great realms", were ancient Indian kingdoms or countries...

state. The kingdom was located in the area of modern Haryana

Haryana

Haryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...

, Delhi

Delhi

Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...

and western Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...

in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. They formed the first political center of the of the Vedic India, with its capital at Hastinapur. It was during this era that the codification and redaction of the Vedic texts began. Archaeologically, they most likely correspond to the black and red ware culture of the 12th

12th century BC

-Overview:The 12th century BC is the period from 1200 to 1101 BC. Although many human societies were literate in this period, most individual persons mentioned in this article ought to be considered legendary rather than historical...

to 9th

9th century BC

The 9th century BC started the first day of 900 BC and ended the last day of 801 BC.- Overview :The 9th century BC was a period of great changes in civilizations. In Africa, Carthage is founded by the Phoenicians...

centuries BC. At this time, iron

Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...

first appears in western India. Iron is still absent from the Rigvedic hymns, and makes its first appearance as "black metal" (śyāma ayas) in the Atharvaveda

Atharvaveda

The Atharvaveda is a sacred text of Hinduism and one of the four Vedas, often called the "fourth Veda"....

.

The Atharvaveda

Atharvaveda

The Atharvaveda is a sacred text of Hinduism and one of the four Vedas, often called the "fourth Veda"....

(XX.127) refers to Parikshit as the king of the Kurus. His son Janamejaya figures in Satapatha Brahmana as well as in the Aitareya Brahmana

Aitareya Brahmana

The Aitareya Brahmana is the Brahmana of the Shakala shakha of the Rigveda, an ancient Indian collection of sacred hymns. This work, according to the tradition is ascribed to Mahidasa Aitareya.-Contents:...

. The Kurus in association with the Panchala

Panchala

Panchala is an ancient region of northern India, which corresponds to the geographical area around the Ganges River and Yamuna River, the upper Gangetic plain in particular. This would encompass the modern-day states of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. During the ancient times, it was home to a...

s are frequently mentioned in the later Vedic literature.

The Chakravarti Samrat Kuru was the King of Earth and the Kuru kingdom was ruled by the Kuru dynasty. Additionally, there was another kingdom called Uttara Kurus

Uttara Kuru Kingdom

Uttara Kuru was an ancient kingdom located north of the India. The name Uttara Kuru means the Northern Kurus. The Kurus were an Indo-Aryan tribe living near the Himalayas during the Vedic civilization of India. The Uttara Kuru were therefore a population to the north of the Kurus, or north of...

to the north of Himalayas. The Kuru kingdom of India lay between Sarasvati River

Sarasvati River

The Sarasvati River is one of the chief Rigvedic rivers mentioned in ancient Hindu texts. The Nadistuti hymn in the Rigveda mentions the Sarasvati between the Yamuna in the east and the Sutlej in the west, and later Vedic texts like Tandya and Jaiminiya Brahmanas as well as the Mahabharata...

and river Ganges

Ganges River

The Ganges or Ganga, , is a trans-boundary river of India and Bangladesh. The river rises in the western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and flows south and east through the Gangetic Plain of North India into Bangladesh, where it empties into the Bay of Bengal. By discharge it...

. It was split two parts:- Kurujangala and Kuru proper.

Geography

In the epic times (8th-6th centuries BC), the region between the triangle of Thaneshwar, Hissar and Hastinapur was distinguished by three different names: (1) Kuru-Jangala equal to Rohtak, Hansi, Hissar; (2) Kuru-rashtra proper between the Ganges and Yamuna

Yamuna

The Yamuna is the largest tributary river of the Ganges in northern India...

with its capital at Hastinapura and (3) the Kuru-kshetra comprising Thaneshwar, Kaithal and Karnal. The whole kingdom roughly corresponded to modern Thanesar, Delhi

Delhi

and the greater part of Upper Gangetic Doab

Doab

A Doab is a term used in India and Pakistan for a "tongue" or tract of land lying between two confluent rivers...

.The rivers Aruna, Ashumati, Hiranvati, Apaya, Kausiki, Sarasvati and Drishadvati or Rakshi washed the lands of Kurus.

Kurujangala

Capital : Indraprastha (Indraprast, Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...

, south of New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...

)

This kingdom was ruled by the Pandava king, Yudhisthira

Yudhisthira

In the great Hindu epic Mahabharata, Yudhisthira , the eldest son of King Pandu and Queen Kunti, was king of Indraprastha and later of Hastinapura. He was the leader of the Pandava side in the Kurukshetra War...

. It was located between the Saraswati

Saraswati

In Hinduism Saraswati , is the goddess of knowledge, music, arts, science and technology. She is the consort of Brahma, also revered as His Shakti....

and Yamuna

Yamuna

The Yamuna is the largest tributary river of the Ganges in northern India...

rivers, and forms the majority of what is now the modern state of Haryana

Haryana

. Indraprastha, now Delhi

Delhi

, was its capital.

This was the western part of Kuru. It was filled with forests like Khandava (eastern Hariyana), Rohitaka (Rohtak

Rohtak

Rohtak City is a Municipal Corporation in Rohtak district that styles itself as the "Heart of Haryana". It is located 70 km Northwest of New Delhi and 210 km South of the state capital Chandigarh at the NH 10...

) and numerous other bush-lands. King Dhritarashtra

Dhritarashtra

In the Mahābhārata, Dhritarashtra was King of Hastinapur at the time of the Kurukshetra War, the epic's climactic event. He was born the son of Vichitravirya's first wife Ambika, and was fathered by Vyasa. He was blind from birth, and became father to a hundred children by his wife Gandhari...

gave this land to Yudhisthira

Yudhisthira

to end the rivalry between the Pandavas and Kauravas. Yudhisthira

Yudhisthira

developed the waste-land into a prosperous country to the envy of the Kauravas. His brother Arjuna

Arjuna

Arjuna in Indian mythology is the greatest warrior on earth and is one of the Pandavas, the heroes of the Hindu epic Mahābhārata. Arjuna, whose name means 'bright', 'shining', 'white' or 'silver' Arjuna (Devanagari: अर्जुन, Thai: อรชุน, Orachun, Tamil: Arjunan, Indonesian and Javanese: Harjuna,...

, with the aid of Vasudeva Krishna, cleared the Khandava Forest

Khandava Forest

Khandava Forest was an ancient forest mentioned in the epic Mahabharata. It lay to the west of Yamuna river, in modern day Delhi territory. Pandavas cleared this forest to construct their capital city called Indraprastha. This forest was earlier inhabited by Naga tribes led by a king named Takshaka...

, after the destruction and re-habitation of the settlements of Nagas

Naga Kingdom

Naga Kingdom refers to the territory of a tribe called Nagas who were a group of hardy and warlike people spread throughout India during far ancient history. They were also considered as one of the supernatural races like Kinnaras and Yakshas...

, Danavas and Rakshasas

Rakshasa Kingdom

Rakshasa Kingdom refers to the territory of Rakshasas who were a tribe, mentioned along with others like Devas , Asuras , Pisachas, Gandharvas, Kimpurushas, Vanaras, Suparnas, Kinnaras, Bhutas and Yakshas...

who dwelled in those regions. Danava Maya

Mayasura

In Hindu mythology, Maya , or Mayāsura was a great ancient king of the Asura, Daitya and Rakshasa races upon earth. He was also the chief architect of the people of the netherworld.-Tripura:...

was the chief architect of the constructions of the new kingdom, such as the royal court of Yudhisthira at Indraprastha.

Kuru

Capital : Hastinapura
Hastinapura
Hastinapur is a town and a nagar panchayat in Meerut district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.-History:Hastinapur was the capital of the kingdom of the Kauravas, belonging to the Kuru dynasty of kings. The throne of this city was the prize over which the Kurukshetra War of the epic...

(Hastinapur, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...

)

Kuru was under Kaurava

Kaurava

The term Kaurava is a Sanskrit term, that means the descendants of Kuru, a legendary king who is the ancestor of many of the characters of the Mahābhārata.The term is used in the Mahābhārata with two meanings:...

king Duryodhana

Duryodhana

In the Hindu epic the Mahābhārata, Duryodhana is the eldest son of the blind king Dhritarashtra by Queen Gandhari, the eldest of the one hundred Kaurava brothers, Emperor of the world at that time which means Emperor of India or Bharatvarsha as it was known at that time, cousin and the chief...

. It was located east of the Kurujangala kingdom of the Pandavas between the Yamuna

Yamuna

The Yamuna is the largest tributary river of the Ganges in northern India...

and Ganges

Ganges River

rivers. This kingdom roughly forms the western part of modern Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh

bordering Haryana

Haryana

. Hastinapura

Hastinapura

Hastinapur is a town and a nagar panchayat in Meerut district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.-History:Hastinapur was the capital of the kingdom of the Kauravas, belonging to the Kuru dynasty of kings. The throne of this city was the prize over which the Kurukshetra War of the epic...

(now a small town named Hastinapur 37 km north-east of Meerut city in Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh

, was identified as its capital.

Later, Duryodhana

Duryodhana

the son of Dhritarashtra

Dhritarashtra

annexed Kurujangala to his kingdom, causing a dispute. This dispute grew into the Kurukshetra war

Kurukshetra war

According to the Indian epic poem Mahābhārata, a dynastic succession struggle between two groups of cousins of an Indo-Aryan kingdom called Kuru, the Kauravas and Pandavas, for the throne of Hastinapura resulted in the Kurukshetra War in which a number of ancient kingdoms participated as allies of...

, which is the central theme of the Mahabharata

Mahabharata

The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....

. Nearly all the kingdoms in existence at the time took part in this war and lost their kings, generals and armies including a few million young able-bodied men. This resulted in a great socio-economic depression in ancient India, which was otherwise known as the 'Kali Yuga

Kali Yuga

Kali Yuga is the last of the four stages that the world goes through as part of the cycle of yugas described in the Indian scriptures. The other ages are Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga and Dvapara Yuga...

' or the 'Dark Age'.

Uttara Kuru

See the main article Uttara Kuru Kingdom
Uttara Kuru Kingdom
Uttara Kuru was an ancient kingdom located north of the India. The name Uttara Kuru means the Northern Kurus. The Kurus were an Indo-Aryan tribe living near the Himalayas during the Vedic civilization of India. The Uttara Kuru were therefore a population to the north of the Kurus, or north of...

, for more details.

In addition to the Kurus

Kurus

Kuruş is a Turkish currency subunit. Since 2005, one new Turkish lira is equal to 100 kuruş. The kuruş was also the standard unit of currency in the Ottoman Empire until 1844, and from that date until the late 1970s was a subdivision of the former lira. It was subdivided into 40 para , each of...

of India ruled by the Pandavas and the Kauravas, there was a kingdom of Uttara Kurus to the north of the Himalayas. Some historians identify this kingdom as Kyrgistan. In an epic about this nation, Bhishma

Bhishma

Bhishma or Bheeshma or Devavrata or 'Bhishma Pitamah' was the eighth son of Kuru King Shantanu who was blessed with wish-long life and had sworn to serve the ruling Kuru king. He was one of the most prominent characters of the great Indian epic, the Mahabharata. He was the grand uncle of both the...

abducted three brides from Kasi kingdom to become brides of his half-brother Vichitavirya. This same custom of abduction of brides by their potential bridegroom or his allies still prevails in Kyrgistan. The border between the states of India and Kyrgistan at the time of the epic is uncertain, but Arjuna

Arjuna

collected tribute from Uttara Kuru during his northern military campaign for Yudhisthira's Rajasuya

Rajasuya

Rajasuya was a sacrifice, described in detail in the Mahabharata, performed by the ancient kings of India who considered themselves powerful enough to be an emperor...

sacrifice. In some places, the epic describes them as ageless and diseaseless. They were also considered to follow a republican constitution with no monarchy.

Kurus of Buddha's times

The Kuru kingdom figures in the list of the sixteen great kingdoms, the Mahajanapadas

Mahajanapadas

Mahājanapadas , literally "great realms", were ancient Indian kingdoms or countries...

of the early Buddhist Anguttara Nikaya

Anguttara Nikaya

The Anguttara Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the fourth of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that comprise the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism...

. At the time of Buddha

Gautama Buddha

Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...

, the Kuru realm was only three hundred leagues in extent. Legendary Buddhist stories -the Jataka

Jataka

The Jātakas refer to a voluminous body of literature native to India concerning the previous births of the Buddha....

s attest that the capital of the Kurus was Indraprastha (Indapatta) near modern Delhi

Delhi

. It extended for seven leagues. The other city in the realm was Hatthinipura i.e. Hastinapura

Hastinapura

. The reigning king Dhananjaya is stated as prince

Prince

Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...

from the race of Yudhishtra. But he was merely a titular chieftain (king consul).

During Buddha's time, Ratthapala, son of the Kuru ruler had embraced Buddhism.

The Buddha taught important and profound discourses in the Kurus such as the "Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta", the Great Discourse on the Foundation of Mindfulness, "Mahānidāna Sutta", The Great Discourse on Causation, and "Āneñjasappāya Sutta", the Way to the Imperturbable. Other discourses, as recorded in the Pali Canon

Pāli Canon

The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the only completely surviving early Buddhist canon, and one of the first to be written down...

, taught by the Buddha in the Kurus are Sutta, Sutta, Sammasa Sutta, Dutiya Ariyāvāsa Sutta.

The Kurus of the Buddhist period did not occupy the same position as they did in the Vedic period but they continued to enjoy their ancient reputation for deep wisdom and sound health. The Kurus had matrimonial relations with Yadavas

Yadu

Yadu is one of the five Indo-Aryan tribes mentioned in the Rig Veda . The Mahabharata, the Harivamsha and the Puranas mention Yadu as the eldest son of king Yayati and his queen Devayani. The prince of King Yayati, Yadu was a self-respecting and a very established ruler...

, the Bhoja

Bhoja

Bhoja was a philosopher king and polymath of medieval India, who ruled the kingdom of Malwa in central India from about 1000 to 1050 CE. Also known as Raja Bhoja Of Dhar, he belonged to the Paramara dynasty...

s and the Panchalas.

Though a well known monarchical

Monarchy

A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...

people in earlier period, the Kurus are known to have switched to republic

Republic

form of government during sixth/fifth century BCE. Fourth century BCE Kautiliya's Arthashastra

Arthashastra

The Arthashastra is an ancient Indian treatise on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy which identifies its author by the names Kautilya and , who are traditionally identified with The Arthashastra (IAST: Arthaśāstra) is an ancient Indian treatise on statecraft, economic policy and...

also attests the Kurus as following the Rajashabdopajivin (king consul) constitution (11/1/1-4).

Kurus are mentioned by Pāṇini (Astadhyayi 4.1.168-75) as one of the fifteen powerful Kshatriya

Kshatriya

*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...

Janapadas of his times, with Hastinapura

Hastinapura

as its capital.

Pāṇini refers to the house-holders' way of life as against ascetic way obtaining amongst the Kurus.

Kuru Dharma

In Buddhism

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

, "Kuru Dharma" specifically refers to the Five Precepts of moral restraints which every Buddhist must take along with the Triple Gem. Buddhists trace the origins of the 5 precepts in the "Kuru Dhamma Jataka

Jataka

The Jātakas refer to a voluminous body of literature native to India concerning the previous births of the Buddha....

".

Kurus have frequently been coupled with the Panchalas in later Vedic and Puranic literature. The Kurus were followers of Brahmanical way of life, and the early kingdom in all probability is the location of the codification of the Vedas

Vedas

The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....

and the establishment of major schools of Vedic priesthood

Vedic priesthood

Priests of the Vedic religion were officiants of the yajna service. As persons trained for the ritual and proficient in its practice, they were called '...

. They insisted on the purity of family life and cultivation of proper domestic relations and virtues, a way of life and philosophy

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

that are reflected in the basic doctrine of Bhagvadgita expounded at Kurukshetra

Kurukshetra

Kurukshetra is a land of historical and religious importance. Historically the land belonged to Punjab now a district in Haryana state of India. It is a holy place and is also known as Dharmakshetra . According to the Puranas, Kurukshetra is named after King Kuru, the ancestor of Kauravas and...

. In the land of Kurus-Panchalas, the speech is said to have its particular home. The mode of sacrifice among the Kuru-Panchalas is proclaimed to be the best. The Kuru Panchala kings are said to have performed Rajasuya
Rajasuya
Rajasuya was a sacrifice, described in detail in the Mahabharata, performed by the ancient kings of India who considered themselves powerful enough to be an emperor...

sacrifice. There are numerous references to the Brahmanas of Kuru-Panchala country. Kurus were noted for deep wisdom and purity of life.

Kuru-Puru-Bharata connection

Epic traditions reveal that the kings of Kuru belonged to the Puru
Puru
The Purus were a tribe, or a confederation of tribes, mentioned many times in the Rigveda, formed around 3180 BCE. RV 7.96.2 locates them at the banks of the Sarasvati River. There were several factions of Purus, one being the Bharatas...

–Bharata family.

The Kuru-Puru connection is suggested by Rigveda

Rigveda

The Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...

(10.33.4) which attests Kuru-Sravana as the descendant of famous Puru king Trasadasyu. (4.38.1, 7.19.3).

A connection of the Bharatas with Kurukshetra

Kurukshetra

is attested by Rigveda 3.23, Shatapatha Brahmana

Shatapatha Brahmana

The Shatapatha Brahmana is one of the prose texts describing the Vedic ritual, associated with the Shukla Yajurveda. It survives in two recensions, Madhyandina and Kanva , with the former having the eponymous 100 adhyayas,7624 kandikas in 14 books, and the latter 104 adhyayas,6806 kandikas in 17...

13.5.4, Aitareya Brahmana

Aitareya Brahmana

8.23 as well as the Mahabharata

Mahabharata

The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....

7.66.8. The former Purus, Bharatas and several other minor clan

Clan

A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolical, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a...

s were later fused together and amalgamated into the powerful Kurus who expanded east from the Punjab.

Mahabharata refers to kings Puru-ravas Aila, Ayu, Yayati
Yayati
Yayati was a Puranic king and the son of king Nahusha and one of ancestors of Pandavas. He was a great scholar of Vedas. He had five brothers, Yati, Samyati, Ayati, Viyati and Kriti. He had two wives, Devayani and Sharmishtha. Devayani was the daughter of Shukracharya, the priest of Asuras ....

Nahushya, Puru-Bharata Dauhshanti Saudyumni, Ajamidha, Riksha, Samavarana, Kuru, Uchchaihsravas Kaupayeya, Prati sutvana, Bahlika Pratipeya, Shantanu and Dhritarashtra
Dhritarashtra
In the Mahābhārata, Dhritarashtra was King of Hastinapur at the time of the Kurukshetra War, the epic's climactic event. He was born the son of Vichitravirya's first wife Ambika, and was fathered by Vyasa. He was blind from birth, and became father to a hundred children by his wife Gandhari...

in the ancestral line of Parikshit, the grandson of Pandava

Pandava

In the Hindu epic Mahābhārata, the Pandava are the five acknowledged sons of Pandu , by his two wives Kunti and Madri. Their names are Yudhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. Although, Karna is told by Lord Krishna that according to the laws and ethics he is the first son of Kunti making...

Arjuna

Puranic view of Kuru origin

The Puranas trace the lineage of the Pauravas, the line of kings who are related to the Kuru-Panchalas, to king Puru-rava Aila, who is stated to be king of Pratishthana.(This Pratishthana is near modern Allahabad

Allahabad

Allahabad , or Settled by God in Persian, is a major city of India and is one of the main holy cities of Hinduism. It was renamed by the Mughals from the ancient name of Prayaga , and is by some accounts the second-oldest city in India. It is located in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh,...

and is not to be confused with the western Indian one, now called Paithan

Paithan

Paithan , formerly Pratishthana, is a city and a municipal council in Aurangabad district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The city was the capital of the Sātavāhana empire of ancient India that ruled from 2nd century BC to 2nd century AD...

). It is stated that Kuru was the son of king Samvarna and Tapti. He had given his name to Kurukshetra

Kurukshetra

. At Kurukshetra, he had performed tapasya (penance) and pleased Indra

Indra

' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...

. Kuru's descendants became known as Kauravas (Brahmanda Purana III.68.21).

This Puranic view, in view of the evidence presented before, is not considered reliable.

The First Kuru King

Samvarana, in the line of Pururavas Aila

Ailas

The Ailas were a dynasty of kings of ancient India. Pururavas, the son of Ila was the founder of this dynasty. The Mahabharata mentioned about the Ailas as, "The numerous royal lines and other ordinary Kshatriyas all represent themselves to be the descendants of Aila and Ikshwaku...

, begat upon his wife, Tapati, daughter of Surya, a son named Kuru who grew to be so virtuous that his people chose him to be king and named the field Kurujangala. He made that field Kurukshetra

Kurukshetra

sacred by practising asceticism there.

The descendants of king Puru

Mahabharata, Book 1: Adi Parva, Chapter 94

When Janamejaya

Janamejaya

Janamejaya was a Kuru king. He was the son of Parikshit and Madravati. He was the grandson of Abhimanyu and the great-grandson of Arjuna, the valiant warrior hero of the Mahābhārata. He was ascended to the Kuru throne following the death of his father. His significance comes as the listener of the...

wished to hear the history of kings who were descended from Puru

Puru

The Purus were a tribe, or a confederation of tribes, mentioned many times in the Rigveda, formed around 3180 BCE. RV 7.96.2 locates them at the banks of the Sarasvati River. There were several factions of Purus, one being the Bharatas...

. Vaisampayana

Vaisampayana

Vaishampayana was the traditional narrator of the Mahabharata, one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India. He was an ancient Indian sage who was the original teacher of the Black Yajur-Veda. The Ashvalayana Grihya Sutra mentions him as Mahabharatacharya...

narrated the lineage of kings in Puru’s line.

Puru

Puru

had by his wife Paushti three sons Pravira, Iswara, and Raudraswa. Pravira was the perpetuator of the dynasty. Pravira had by his wife Suraseni a son named Manasyu. Manasyu had for his wife Sauviri. He begat upon her three sons called Sakta, Sahana, and Vagmi.

Raudraswa begat upon Apsara Misrakesi ten sons. They all had sons. Richeyu, Kaksreyu Vrikeyu, Sthandileyu, Vaneyu, Jaleyu, Tejeyu, Satyeyu, Dharmeyu and Sannateyu the tenth.

Amongst them all, Richeyu became the sole monarch and was known by the name of Anadhrishti. Anadhristi had a son of the name of Matinara who became a famous and virtuous king and performed the Rajasuya

Rajasuya

Rajasuya was a sacrifice, described in detail in the Mahabharata, performed by the ancient kings of India who considered themselves powerful enough to be an emperor...

and the Ashwamedha. Matinara had four sons viz., Tansu, Mahan, Atiratha, and Druhyu.

Amongst them, Tansu of great prowess became the perpetrator of Puru’s line. Tansu begat a son named Ilina.

Ilina begat upon his wife Rathantara five sons with Dushmanta (Dushyanta

Dushyanta

Dushyant or Dushyanta was a great king in classical Indian literature and mythology. He is the husband of Shakuntala and the father of the Emperor Bharatha. He appears in the Mahabarata and in Kalidasa's play The Recognition of Sakuntala .-Historical king:According to the Mahābhārata, Dushyanta is...

) at their head. Dushmanta, Sura, Bhima, Pravasu, and Vasu. Vasu is mentioned as the founder of Chedi Kingdom

Chedi Kingdom

Chedi kingdom was one among the many kingdoms ruled during early periods by Paurava kings and later by Yaduvanshi Rajput kings in the central and western India. It falls roughly in the Bundelkhand division of Madhya Pradesh regions to the south of river Yamuna and along river Betwa or Vetravati...

. The eldest of them, Dushmanta, became king. Dushmanta had by his wife Sakuntala

Sakùntala

La leggenda di Sakùntala is a three-act opera by Franco Alfano, who wrote his own libretto, basing his work on Kalidasa's 5th-century BC drama Abhijñānaśākuntalam .-Première, Loss, Reconstruction, Rediscovery:...

an intelligent son named Bharata who became king. Bharata gave his name to the race of which he was the founder. It is from him that the fame of that dynasty hath spread so wide. Bharata begat upon his three wives nine sons in all. But none of them were like their father and so Bharata was not at all pleased with them. Their mothers, therefore, became angry and slew them all. The procreation of children by Bharata, therefore, became vain.

The monarch then performed a great sacrifice and through the grace of Bharadwaja

Bharadwaja

Bharadwaja was one of the greatest Hindu Arya sages descendant of rishi Angirasa, whose accomplishments are detailed in the Puranas. He was one of the Saptarshis in the present Manvantara; with others being Atri, Vashishtha, Vishvamitra, Gautama, Jamadagni, Kashyapa.Bhardwaj Rishi was father of...

obtained a son named Bhumanyu. Then Bharata, the great descendant of Puru

Puru

, regarding himself as really possessing a son, installed that son as his heir-apparent. Bhumanyu begat upon his wife, Pushkarini six sons named Suhotra, Suhotri, Suhavih, Sujeya, Diviratha and Kichika.

During the virtuous reign of Suhotra the surface of the whole earth was dotted witn innumerable sacrificial stakes. Suhotra begat upon his wife Aikshaki three sons, Ajmenid, Sumenid, and Purumenid. The eldest of them, Ajmenid, was the perpetuator of the royal line, and begat six sons: Riksha was born of the womb of his wife Dhumini; Dushmanta and Parameshthin, of his wife Nili.Jahnu, Jala and Rupina were born of his wife Kesini.

Branches of Panchalas and Kusikas

All the tribes of the Panchalas
Panchala Kingdom
This article is about the kingdom of Panchala during the epic-ages. For the historical kingdom, see Panchala.Panchala Kingdom extended from Himalayas in the north to river Charmanwati in the south during the period of Mahabharata. It had Kuru, Surasena and Matsya kingdoms to the west and the forest...

are descended from Dushmanta and Parameshthin, two sons of the second wife of Puru
Puru
The Purus were a tribe, or a confederation of tribes, mentioned many times in the Rigveda, formed around 3180 BCE. RV 7.96.2 locates them at the banks of the Sarasvati River. There were several factions of Purus, one being the Bharatas...

king Ajmenid.

The Kushikas
Panchala Kingdom
This article is about the kingdom of Panchala during the epic-ages. For the historical kingdom, see Panchala.Panchala Kingdom extended from Himalayas in the north to river Charmanwati in the south during the period of Mahabharata. It had Kuru, Surasena and Matsya kingdoms to the west and the forest...

(who ruled the Kanyakubja Kingdom
Panchala Kingdom
This article is about the kingdom of Panchala during the epic-ages. For the historical kingdom, see Panchala.Panchala Kingdom extended from Himalayas in the north to river Charmanwati in the south during the period of Mahabharata. It had Kuru, Surasena and Matsya kingdoms to the west and the forest...

, viz the southern parts of Panchala) are the sons of Jahnu.

Temporary Exile of the forefathers of Kurus

The Bharata prince Riksha who was older than both Jala and Rupina became king and begat Samvarana, the perpetuator of the royal line. It hath been heard that while Samvarana, the son of Riksha, was ruling, there happened a great loss of people from famine, pestilence, drought, and disease. Then the Panchalas invaded his kingdom. The Bharata princes were beaten by the troops of enemies. The Panchalas with their ten Akshauhinis defeated the Bharata prince. Samvarana then with his wife and ministers, sons and relatives, fled in fear, and took shelter in the forest on the banks of the Sindhu extending to the foot of the (western) mountains.

There the Bharatas lived for a full thousand years (for a long period), within their fort. After they had lived there a long period, one day the sage Vasishtha approached the exiled Bharatas.

It hath been heard that Vasishtha (becoming the priest) then installed the Bharata prince in the sovereignty of all the Kshatriyas. The king retook the capital that had been taken away from him and once more made all monarchs pay tribute to him. The powerful Samvarana, was thus installed once more in the actual sovereignty of the whole land.

The origin of Kuru Dynasty

Samvarana married, Tapati (whose abode was on the banks of river Tapati (Tapti, Maharashtra

Maharashtra

Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...

) , the daughter of Surya (a king of the Solar Dynasty) with the help of Vasistha

Vasistha

Vashist in the seventh, i.e the present Manvantara, and the Rajpurohit / Rajguru of the Suryavansha or Solar Dynasty. He was the mānasaputra of Brahma. He had in his possession the divine cow Kamadhenu, and Nandini her child, who could grant anything to their owners...

a priest of Solar Dynasty kings. Samvarana begat in Tapati, a son named Kuru. This Kuru was exceedingly virtuous, and therefore, he was installed on the throne by his people. It is after his name that the field called Kurujangala (eastern Hariyana) has become so famous in the world. Devoted to asceticism, he made that field Kurukshetra

Kurukshetra

sacred by practising asceticism there. He was the founder of the Kuru dynasty and the Kuru Kingdom.

Kuru’s wife, Vahini, brought forth five sons, viz., Avikshit, Bhavishyanta, Chaitraratha, Muni and Janamejaya-1. Avikshit begat Parikshit-1, Savalaswa, Adhiraja (See Karusha Kingdom

Karusha Kingdom

Karusha Kingdom was one among the many kingdoms ruled by Yadava kings in the central and western India.It lies to the south of Chedi. Karusha king Dantavaktra supported Chedi king Sishupala and was killed by Vasudeva Krishna...

), Viraja, Salmali, Uchaihsravas, Bhangakara and Jitari the eighth.

In the race of these were born, as the fruit of their pious acts seven mighty car-warriors with Janamejaya-2 at their head. Unto Parikshit-1 were born sons named Kakshasena, Ugrasena, Chitrasena, Indrasena, Sushena and Bhimasena. The sons of Janamejaya-2 were Dhritarashtra-1 who was the eldest, Pandu-1, Valhika-1, Nishadha

Nishadha Kingdom

Nishadha was the kingdom of the celebrated king Nala, who loved and married Damayanti the princess of Vidarbha Kingdom. This kingdom is identified with current day Gwalior district of Madhya Pradesh...

, Jamvunada, Kundodara, Padati, Vasati the eighth.

There was a Dhritarashtra who was a Gandharva
Gandharva Kingdom
Gandharva Kingdom refers to the territory inhabited by a people called the Gandharvas, who were one of the Exotic Tribes of Ancient India. They were well versed in music and dance. Gandarvas were also powerful warriors who roamed in Indian kingdoms disregarding any Indian king or Kshatriya warrior...

)
There was a Dhritarashtra who was a Naga
Naga Kingdom
Naga Kingdom refers to the territory of a tribe called Nagas who were a group of hardy and warlike people spread throughout India during far ancient history. They were also considered as one of the supernatural races like Kinnaras and Yakshas...

Birth of Kuru king Santanu

Among them Dhritarashtra-1 became king.
Dhritarashtra-1 had eight sons, viz., Kundika, Hasti, Vitarka, Kratha, Havihsravas, Indrabha, and Bhumanyu.

Dhritarashtra-1 had many grandsons, of whom three only were famous. They were Pratipa, Dharmanetra, Sunetra. Among these three, Pratipa became unrivalled on earth. Pratipa begat three sons, viz., Devapi, Santanu

Santanu

Shantanu was a Kuru king of Hastinapura, who is mentioned in the great epic of the Mahābhārata. He was a descendant of the Bharata race, of the lunar dynasty and the ancestor of the Pandavas and the Kauravas. The Rigveda mentions Shantanu. He was the youngest son of King Pratipa of Hastinapura...

, and the mighty car-warrior Valhika-2.

The eldest Devapi adopted the ascetic course of life, impelled thereto by the desire of benefiting his brothers. The kingdom was obtained by Santanu

Santanu

and the mighty car-warrior Valhika-2 (See Bahlika Kingdom

Bahlika Kingdom

All the western Indian kingdoms were known by the general name Bahlika meaning outsider. Thus these people were considered as outsiders of the Vedic culture. However, the name Bahlika is sometimes used to denote a kingdom within the present Punjab, different from Madra, Sindhu, Kekeya, Gandhara or...

). There were born in the race of Bharata numberless other excellent monarchs who by their number swelled the Aila

Aila

-Places:*A region occupied by the Legio X Fretensis*Aila, Estonia, village in Estonia*A special kind of alcoholic beverage made by the Newa community of Nepal.-Other:*Ailas, a dynasty of kings of ancient India...

dynasty into gigantic proportions.

The Vahlika king who took part in Kurukshetra War

Kurukshetra war

was Vahlika-3. Dhritarashtra

Dhritarashtra

who was the father of Duryodhana

Duryodhana

was Dritarashtra-2. Pandu

Pandu

In the Mahābhārata epic, King Pandu is the son of Ambalika and Rishi Ved Vyasa. He is more popularly known as the father of the Pandavas and ruled Hastinapur.-Birth:...

the father of Pandavas was Pandu-2. There were many kings named Janamejaya and Parikhsit in the lineage of Aila-Puru

Puru

-Bharata-Kuru dynasty. The Janamejaya

Janamejaya

unto who Vaisampayana

Vaisampayana

narrated the history of his forefathers was the last among the Janamejayas viz Janamejaya 3 or 4. He was the son of the last among the kings named Parikshit

The lineage from Daksha to Janamejaya’s grandson

Mahabharata, Book 1: Adi Parva, Section 95

Janamejaya

wished to know the lineage of his forefathers in detail commencing from Manu

Manu (Hinduism)

In various Hindu traditions, Manu is a title accorded to the progenitor of mankind, and also the very first brahman king to rule this earth, who saved mankind from the universal flood. He was absolutely honest which was why he was initially known as "Satyavrata"...

, the Emperor of Dravida, and the first king known to humanity. Vaisampayana

Vaisampayana

narrated that lineage in detail.

Lunar Dynasty

Pururavas is considered as the first king in the Lunar Dynasty
Lunar Dynasty
In Hindu mythology, the Lunar Dynasty is one of the three principal houses of the Kshatriya varna, or warrior–ruling caste...

.

Daksha

Daksha

In Hinduism, Daksha, "the skilled one", is an ancient creator god, one of the Prajapatis, the Rishis and the Adityas. Daksha is said to be the son of Aditi and Brahma...

begat Aditi

Aditi

Aditi in Sanskrit, an ancient Indian language. In the Vedas Aditi is mother of the gods from whose cosmic matrix the heavenly bodies were born...

(one of the 13 great mothers in the ancient world), and Aditi begat Vivaswat, Vivaswat (belonging to the Solar Dynasty) begat the Dravidaeeswara Manu. Then Manu begat Ha and Ha begat Pururavas

Pururavas

Pururavas was the first king of the Aila dynasty or the Somavamsha. According to the Vedas, he is a mythological entity associated with the Surya and Usha , and is believed to resided in the middle region of the cosmos. The Rig Veda states that he was a son of Ila and was a pious king...

(In another reference Pururavas is mentioned as the son of Ila (1,75) who the daughter of Manu). Hence he was called Pururavas-Aila.

Birth of Yadu, Turvusu, Druhyu, Anu and Puru

Yadu and Turvusu contained the gene

Gene

A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...

s of Bhargavas, considered to be a priest among Asuras. Druhyu, Anu and Puru

Puru

contained the genes of Asura kings, the warrior-class among the Asuras. Thus the lineage of ancient Indian kings is a mixture of diverse races of people. Yadu's line gave rise to the Yadavas

Yadu

and Purus

Purus

The Purus is a tributary of the Amazon River in South America. Its drainage basin is , and the mean discharge is 8,400 m³/s.It enters the Amazon River west of the Madeira River, which it parallels as far south as the falls of the latter stream...

line the Pauravas

Pauravas

The Pauravas was the name given to the many small kingdoms and tribes of ancient India in the 5th and 4th centuries BC.The Pauravas had also existed before then in the Vedic Ages led by King Sudas, who fought off the Iranian invaders at the Battle of the Ten Kings. The Pauravas were all situated...

. The others viz Turvusu, Druhyu and Anu gave rise to the races collectively called by the Vedic tribes (predominantly Puru

Puru

s) as Mlecchas. They included the Tusharas

Tushara Kingdom

Tusharas were a Mleccha tribe, with their kingdom located in the north west of India as per the epic Mahabharata. An account in Mahabharata depicts Mlechchas as the descendants of Anu, one of the cursed sons of king Yayati. Yayati's eldest son Yadu, gave rise to the Yadavas and youngest son Puru...

, Yavanas

Yavana Kingdom

Yavana or Yona is grouped under western countries along with Sindhu, Madra, Kekeya, Gandhara and Kamboja as per the descriptions in the epic Mahabharata. In later history, this word was used to indicate the Greeks and the Arabs, leading to much confusion....

and Anavas (some believe them to be ancient Iranian

Iranian peoples

The Iranian peoples are an Indo-European ethnic-linguistic group, consisting of the speakers of Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, as such forming a branch of Indo-European-speaking peoples...

tribes).

Ayus begat Nahusha (also considered to be a Naga

Naga Kingdom

), and Nahusha

Nahusha

Nahusha was a well-known king of the Aila dynasty. He was the son of Ayu, the eldest son of Pururavas and Prabha, the daughter of Svarbhanu. Nahusha reigned from Pratishthana. He married Viraja, the daughter of the Pitrs. They had six or seven sons, according to different Puranas. His eldest son...

begat Yayati

Yayati

Yayati was a Puranic king and the son of king Nahusha and one of ancestors of Pandavas. He was a great scholar of Vedas. He had five brothers, Yati, Samyati, Ayati, Viyati and Kriti. He had two wives, Devayani and Sharmishtha. Devayani was the daughter of Shukracharya, the priest of Asuras ....

. Yayati had two wives, viz., Devayani

Devayani

Devayani is an Indian film actress. She starred in numerous Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films, along with a few Hindi films and one Bengali film. She received the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for her performances in the films Kadhal Kottai and Surya Vamsam...

, the daughter of Usanas (Bhargava Sukra

Sukra

Shukra may refer to:*The Sanskrit name for Venus, also Shukra*A Montserratian spirit or ghost...

), and Sharmishtha

Sharmishtha

In Hindu mythology, Sharmistha, also known as Sharmista, was the daughter of Demon king Vrishparva, who was also friend of Devayani. She was given as dowry to Yayati of Yadav dynasty, when he married Devayani, the daughter of Sage Shukracharya, the guru of all Asuras.-the Legend:Once when Devayani...

the daughter of (Asura

Asura

-In Hinduism:In Hinduism, the Asuras constitute a group of power-seeking deities, sometimes considered sinful and materialistic. The Daityas and Danavas were combinedly known as Asuras. The Asura were opposed to the Devas. Both groups are children of Kasyapa...

king) Vrishaparvan. Devayani gave birth to Yadu and Turvasu; and Vrishaparvan’s daughter, Sarmishtha gave birth to Druhyu, Anu, and Puru. The descendants of Yadu

Yadu

are the Yadavas and of Puru

Puru

are the Pauravas

Pauravas

Puru Dynasty

Puru had a wife of the name of Kausalya
Kosala Kingdom
Kosala Proper or Uttara Kosala is the kingdom of the celebrated personality of Treta Yuga, Raghava Rama. Ayodhya was its capital, presently in Faizabad district, Uttar Pradesh. Rama's sons Lava and Kusha inherited parts of this kingdom. Lava ruled from the city called Sravasti and Kusa from the...

, on whom he begat a son named Janamejaya-1.
Janamejaya-1 performed three horse-sacrifices and a sacrifice called Viswajit. Then he entered into the woods. Janamejaya had married Ananta, the daughter of Madhava, and begat upon her a son called Prachinwat.
Prachinwat was so called because he had conquered all the eastern countries up to the very confines of the region where the Sun rises (Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh is a state of India, located in the far northeast. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south, and shares international borders with Burma in the east, Bhutan in the west, and the People's Republic of China in the north. The majority of the territory is claimed by...

).

Prachinwat married Asmaki
Asmaka Kingdom
Asmaka was a kingdom among the 16 Mahajanapadas mentioned in the Buddhist texts. All other kingdoms were in the north, from Vanga to Gandhara. Some believes that Asmaka was a colony of the Kambojas, and its earlier name was Aswaka...

, a daughter of the Yadavas
Yadu
Yadu is one of the five Indo-Aryan tribes mentioned in the Rig Veda . The Mahabharata, the Harivamsha and the Puranas mention Yadu as the eldest son of king Yayati and his queen Devayani. The prince of King Yayati, Yadu was a self-respecting and a very established ruler...

and begat upon her a son named Sanyati.
Sanyati married Varangi, the daughter of Drishadwata (probably dwelling in the shores of Dhrisadwati river, in Hariyana) and begat upon her a son named Ahayanti.
Ahayanti married Bhanumati, the daughter of Kritavirya and begat upon her a son named Sarvabhauma.
Sarvabhauma married Sunanda, the daughter of the Kekaya
Kekeya Kingdom
Kekeya is a kingdom grouped among the western kingdoms in the epic Mahabharata. The epic Ramayana also mentions Kekeya as a western kingdom. One of the wives of Dasaratha, the king of Kosala and father of Raghava Rama, was from Kekeya kingdom and was known as Kaikeyi...

prince, having obtained her by force. He begat upon her a son named Jayatsena.
Jayatsena married Susrava, the daughter of the Vidarbha
Vidarbha Kingdom
Vidarbha kingdom was one among the many kingdoms ruled by Yadava kings in the central and western India, in a region still known as Vidarbha. It was the southern most kingdom known to the kings of Gangatic Plain until they explored Southern India.Damayanti, the wife of Nala was the princess of...

king and begat upon her Avachina.
Avachina also married another princess of Vidarbha, Maryada by name. He begat on her a son named Arihan.
Arihan married Angi and begat on her Mahabhauma.
Mahabhauma married Suyajna, the daughter of Prasenajit of her was born Ayutanayi. he was so called because he had performed a sacrifice at which the fat of an Ayuta (ten thousands) of male beings was required.
Ayutanayi took for a wife Kama, the daughter of Prithusravas. By her was born a son named Akrodhana.
Akrodhan took to wife Karambha, the daughter of the king of Kalinga and of her was born Devatithi.
Devatithi took for his wife Maryada, the princess of Videha
Videha Kingdom
In the Ramayana, Videha was the kingdom of the royal sage Seeradhwaja Janaka, the father of Sita, Raghava Rama's wife. Rama's brothers married Sita's sisters, so the Videha Kingdom was closely allied to the Kosala Kingdom. Mithila was the capital of Videha, now identified with Janakpur, a town in...

. Of her was born a son named Arihan.
Arihan s/o Devatithi took to wife Sudeva, the princess of Anga
Anga Kingdom
Anga was a kingdom ruled by non-Vedic rulers. Anga king Lomapada was a friend of Kosala king Dasaratha. Kosala Princess Santha, elder to Raghava Rama, lived as the daughter of Lomapada, since he was childless. Duryodhana established Karna as the ruler of Angas. It is believed that there were many...

, and upon her he begat a son named Riksha.
Riksha married Jwala, the daughter of Naga
Naga Kingdom
Naga Kingdom refers to the territory of a tribe called Nagas who were a group of hardy and warlike people spread throughout India during far ancient history. They were also considered as one of the supernatural races like Kinnaras and Yakshas...

Takshaka, and he begat upon her a son of the name of Matinara, who performed on the bank of Sarasvati River
Sarasvati River
The Sarasvati River is one of the chief Rigvedic rivers mentioned in ancient Hindu texts. The Nadistuti hymn in the Rigveda mentions the Sarasvati between the Yamuna in the east and the Sutlej in the west, and later Vedic texts like Tandya and Jaiminiya Brahmanas as well as the Mahabharata...

the twelve years’ sacrifice said to be so efficacious. He married a maiden from the Saraswati valley. He begat upon her a son named Tansu.
Tansu himself begat a son named Ilina on his wife, the princess Kalingi
Kalinga Kingdom
Kalinga forms the sea shore of Orissa and Andhra region of Andhra pradesh state in India. Kuru king Duryodhana's wife was from Kalinga. Kalingas sided with Duryodhana in the Kurukshetra War...

.
Ilina begat on his wife Rathantari five sons, of whom Dushyanta
Dushyanta
Dushyant or Dushyanta was a great king in classical Indian literature and mythology. He is the husband of Shakuntala and the father of the Emperor Bharatha. He appears in the Mahabarata and in Kalidasa's play The Recognition of Sakuntala .-Historical king:According to the Mahābhārata, Dushyanta is...

was the eldest.
Dushyanta took to wife Sakuntala
Sakùntala
La leggenda di Sakùntala is a three-act opera by Franco Alfano, who wrote his own libretto, basing his work on Kalidasa's 5th-century BC drama Abhijñānaśākuntalam .-Première, Loss, Reconstruction, Rediscovery:...

, the daughter of Viswamitra
Viswamitra
Brahmarshi Vishvamitra is one of the most venerated rishis or sages of ancient times in India. He is also credited as the author of most of Mandala 3 of the Rigveda, including the Gayatri Mantra. The Puranas mention that only 24 rishis since antiquity have understood the whole meaning of, and...

. He begat on her a son named Bharata.

Bharata dynasty

Bharata married Sunanda, the daughter of Sarvasena, the king of Kasi, and begat upon her the son named Bhumanyu.
Bhumanyu married Vijaya, the daughter of Dasarha. He begat upon her a son
Suhotra Suhotra married Suvarna, the daughter of Ikshvaku. To her was born a son named Hasti.
Hasti founded acity, which has, therefore, been called Hastinapura
Hastinapura
Hastinapur is a town and a nagar panchayat in Meerut district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.-History:Hastinapur was the capital of the kingdom of the Kauravas, belonging to the Kuru dynasty of kings. The throne of this city was the prize over which the Kurukshetra War of the epic...

. Hasti married Yasodhara, the princess of Trigarta
Trigarta Kingdom
Trigarta was a kingdom mentioned in the epic Mahabharata. Mahabharata mentions two different Trigarta kingdoms, one in the west close to the Sivi Kingdom and the other north to the Kuru Kingdom. Modern Kangra district is one of the ancient town in North Trigarta, India, extending westward to the...

. Of her was born a son named Vikunthana.
Vikunthana took for a wife Sudeva, the princess of Dasarha. By her was born a son named Ajmenid.
Ajmenid had four wives named Kaikeyi
Kekeya Kingdom
Kekeya is a kingdom grouped among the western kingdoms in the epic Mahabharata. The epic Ramayana also mentions Kekeya as a western kingdom. One of the wives of Dasaratha, the king of Kosala and father of Raghava Rama, was from Kekeya kingdom and was known as Kaikeyi...

, Gandhari
Gandhara Kingdom
Gandhara is a kingdom grouped among the western kingdoms in the epic Mahabharata. The epic Ramayana also mentions it as a western kingdom. Gandhara prince Sakuni was the root of all the conspiracies of Duryodhana against the Pandavas, which finally resulted in the Kurukshetra War. Sakuni's sister...

, Visala and Riksha. He begat on them numerous (2400) sons. But amongst them all, Samvarana became the perpetuator of the dynasty.
Samvarana took for his wife Tapati (who dwelled near Tapati Tapti river in Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...

), the daughter of Vivaswat (Surya, or one belonging to the Solar Dynasty).

Kuru Dynasty

From Tapati was born Kuru, who married Subhangi, the princess of Dasarha. He begat on her a son named Viduratha,
Viduratha took to wife Supriya, the daughter of the Madhavas. He begat upon her a son named Anaswan.
Anaswan married Amrita, the daughter of the Madhavas. Of her was born a son named Parikshit-1.
Parikshit-1 took for his wife Suvasa, the daughter of the Vahudas, and begat upon her a son named Bhimasena.
Bhimasena married Kumari, the princess of Kekaya
Kekeya Kingdom
Kekeya is a kingdom grouped among the western kingdoms in the epic Mahabharata. The epic Ramayana also mentions Kekeya as a western kingdom. One of the wives of Dasaratha, the king of Kosala and father of Raghava Rama, was from Kekeya kingdom and was known as Kaikeyi...

and begat upon her Pratisravas.
Pratisravas' son was Pratipa.
Pratipa married Sunanda, the daughter of Sivi
Sivi Kingdom
Sivi is mentioned as a kingdom and as the name of a king in the epic Mahabharata. Probably there was a Sivi king who became famous as Sivi or the kingdom itself may be named after him. Sivi king was famous for his truthfulness...

, and begat upon her three sons, viz., Devapi, Santanu
Santanu
Shantanu was a Kuru king of Hastinapura, who is mentioned in the great epic of the Mahābhārata. He was a descendant of the Bharata race, of the lunar dynasty and the ancestor of the Pandavas and the Kauravas. The Rigveda mentions Shantanu. He was the youngest son of King Pratipa of Hastinapura...

and Valhika-1. Devapi, while still a boy, entered the woods as a hermit. Santanu became king.

The descendants of Santanu

Those old men that were touched by this monarch not only felt an indescribable sensation of pleasure but also became restored to youth. Therefore, this monarch was called Santanu. Santanu married a maiden living in the vicinity of Ganges

Ganges River

, who bore him a son Devavrata who was afterwards called Bhishma
Bhishma
Bhishma or Bheeshma or Devavrata or 'Bhishma Pitamah' was the eighth son of Kuru King Shantanu who was blessed with wish-long life and had sworn to serve the ruling Kuru king. He was one of the most prominent characters of the great Indian epic, the Mahabharata. He was the grand uncle of both the...

. Bhishma, moved by the desire of doing good to his father, got Santanu married to Satyavati

Satyavati

Satyavati was the queen of the Kuru king Shantanu of Hastinapur and the great-grandmother of the Pandava and Kaurava princes . She is also the mother of the seer Vyasa, author of the epic...

who was also called Gandhakali. In her maidenhood she had a son by Parasara, named Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa. Upon her Santanu begat two other sons named Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. Before they attained to majority, Chitrangada had been slain by the Gandharvas

Gandharva Kingdom

Gandharva Kingdom refers to the territory inhabited by a people called the Gandharvas, who were one of the Exotic Tribes of Ancient India. They were well versed in music and dance. Gandarvas were also powerful warriors who roamed in Indian kingdoms disregarding any Indian king or Kshatriya warrior...

. Vichitravirya became king, and married the two daughters of the king of Kasi, named Ambika and Ambalika. But Vichitravirya died childless.

Birth of Pandavas and Kauravas

Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa on the request of mother Satyavati

Satyavati

Satyavati was the queen of the Kuru king Shantanu of Hastinapur and the great-grandmother of the Pandava and Kaurava princes . She is also the mother of the seer Vyasa, author of the epic...

begat three children, viz., Dhritarashtra

Dhritarashtra

, Pandu

Pandu

In the Mahābhārata epic, King Pandu is the son of Ambalika and Rishi Ved Vyasa. He is more popularly known as the father of the Pandavas and ruled Hastinapur.-Birth:...

, and Vidura

Vidura

Vidura was an important figure in the Mahabharata, a major Hindu epic. He was half-brother to the kings Dhritarashtra and Pandu of Hastinapura, born the son of the sage Vyasa and a lady-in-waiting to the queens Ambika and Ambalika of the city...

upon the widowed wives of Vichitravirya. King Dhritarashtra

Dhritarashtra

had a hundred sons by his wife, Gandhari

Gandhara

Gandhāra , is the name of an ancient kingdom , located in northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. Gandhara was located mainly in the vale of Peshawar, the Potohar plateau and on the Kabul River...

in consequence of the boon granted by Dwaipayana. amongst those hundred sons of Dhritarashtra, four became celebrated. They are Duryodhana

Duryodhana

, Dushasana, Vikarna, and Chitrasena. Pandu had two jewels of wives, viz., Kunti, also called Pritha, and Madri

Madri

In the Mahābhārata epic, Madri was a princess of the Madra kingdom and the second wife of Pandu.On his way to Hastinapur, King Pandu encountered the army of Shalya, King of Madra. Very soon, Pandu and Shalya became friends and Shalya gave his only sister, Madri to Pandu, as a gift of their...

. Pandu was childless. So Kunti raised up offspring upon the wishes of Pandu. By Dharma she had Yudhishthira; by Maruta, Bhima

Bhima

In the Mahābhārata, Bhima is one of the central characters of Mahabharata and the second of the Pandava brothers...

: and by Sakra, Arjuna

Arjuna

. On Madri were raised by the twin Aswins, the twins Nakula

Nakula

Nakula, also spelt "Nakul" was one of the five Pandava brothers according to the epic Mahābhārata. Nakula and Sahadeva were fraternal twins born to Madri, who had invoked the Ashvins using a mantra for a son, the mantra shared by Kunti...

and Sahadeva

Sahadeva

Sahadeva was one of the five Pandava brothers according to the epic Mahābhārata. He was one of the twin sons of Madri, who invoked Ashvins using a mantra shared by Kunti for a son. His twin brother was named Nakula...

. These five became well known as the Pandavas. Pandu and Madri died. After some time those five Pandavas were taken by the ascetics of the woods to Hastinapura

Hastinapura

. Duryodhana

Duryodhana

became exceedingly jealous of them and tried to murder them. Pandavas escaped all the murder attempts by Duryodhana and married Draupadi

Draupadi

In the epic Mahābhārata, Draupadi, also known as ' is the "emerged" daughter of King Drupada of Panchāla and the wife of the five Pandavas. When Yudhisthira becomes the king of Hastinapura at the end of the war, Draupadi becomes the queen of Indraprastha...

the Panchala

Panchala Kingdom

This article is about the kingdom of Panchala during the epic-ages. For the historical kingdom, see Panchala.Panchala Kingdom extended from Himalayas in the north to river Charmanwati in the south during the period of Mahabharata. It had Kuru, Surasena and Matsya kingdoms to the west and the forest...

princess, for a wife. They then ruled half of the Kuru kingdom, with Indraprastha as their capital.

The sons of Pandavas

During that time Yudhishthira begat Prativindhya; Bhima, Sutasoma; Arjuna, Srutakriti; Nakula, Satanika; and Sahadeva, Srutakarman. Besides these, Yudhishthira, having obtained for his wife Devika, the daughter of Govasana of the Saivya

Sivi Kingdom

Sivi is mentioned as a kingdom and as the name of a king in the epic Mahabharata. Probably there was a Sivi king who became famous as Sivi or the kingdom itself may be named after him. Sivi king was famous for his truthfulness...

tribe, in a self-choice ceremony, begat upon her a son named Yaudheya. Bhima also obtaining for a wife Valandhara, the daughter of the king of Kasi, offered his own prowess as dower and begat upon her a son named Sarvaga. Arjuna also, repairing to Dwaravati

Dwaraka Kingdom

In the Mahabharata, Dvārakā is the capital of the Yadus who ruled the Anarta Kingdom....

, brought away by force Subhadra. the sweet-speeched sister of Vasudeva Krishna, and returned in happiness. He begat upon her a son named Abhimanyu

Abhimanyu

Abhimanyu is a tragic hero in the Hindu epic, the Mahābhārata. He is the son of Arjuna and Subhadra, who is the half-sister of Lord Krishna...

. Nakula obtaining for his wife Karenumati, the princess of Chedi

Chedi Kingdom

, begat upon her a son named Niramitra. Sahadeva also married Vijaya, the daughter of Dyutimat, the king of Madra

Madra Kingdom

Madra Kingdom was a kingdom grouped among the western kingdoms in the epic Mahabharata. Its capital was Sagala, modern Sialkot . The Kuru king Pandu's second wife was from Madra kingdom and was called Madri. The Pandava twins, Nakula and Sahadeva, were her sons. Madri's brother Shalya was the king...

, obtaining her in a self-choice ceremony and begat upon her a son named Suhotra. Bhimasena had some time before begat upon Hidimva a son named Ghatotkacha

Ghatotkacha

Ghatotkacha , is a character in the Mahabharata, the son of Bhima and the giantess Hidimbi . His maternal parentage made him half-rakshasa and gave him many magical powers that made him an important fighter in the Kurukshetra war, the climax of the epic...

. Arjuna also begat a son named Iravat upon the Naga

Naga Kingdom

lady Uloopi and another son named Babhruvahana upon Chitrangada a princess from a southern country known as Manipura.

Abhimanyu, Parikshit, Janamejaya and his descendants

Amongst them all, Abhimanyu

Abhimanyu

Abhimanyu is a tragic hero in the Hindu epic, the Mahābhārata. He is the son of Arjuna and Subhadra, who is the half-sister of Lord Krishna...

was the perpetuator of the family. He married Uttara, the daughter of Virata

Matsya Kingdom

Matsya or Machcha , classically called the Mese , was the name of a tribe and the state of the Vedic civilization of India. It lay to south of the kingdom of Kurus and west of the Yamuna which separated it from the kingdom of Panchalas...

who begat a son named Parikshit. He was born as a dead child, but was revived by Krishna

Krishna

Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...

in an experiment Hence he is called Parikshita. Parikshit married Madravati

Madra Kingdom

. Her son was Janamejaya

Janamejaya

. Jamamejaya, in his wife Vapushtama begat two sons named Satanika and Sankukarna. Satanika also hath begotten one son named Aswamedhadatta upon the princess of Videha

Videha Kingdom

In the Ramayana, Videha was the kingdom of the royal sage Seeradhwaja Janaka, the father of Sita, Raghava Rama's wife. Rama's brothers married Sita's sisters, so the Videha Kingdom was closely allied to the Kosala Kingdom. Mithila was the capital of Videha, now identified with Janakpur, a town in...

Military academy of Drona

Hastinapura

the capital of Kuru kingdom was the center of military education during the period of Mahabharata

Mahabharata

The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....

. Drona

Drona

In the epic Mahābhārata, Drona or Dronacharya was the royal guru to Kauravas and Pandavas. He was a master of advanced military arts, including the Devastras. Arjuna was his favorite student. Dronas love for Arjuna was second only to his love for his son Ashwatthama...

was the foremost of the preceptors in all modes of warfare. Drona himself learned the science of warfare from his father Bharadwaja

Bharadwaja

and the great warrior of the age viz Bhargava Rama. Bhishma

Bhishma

, who was the foremost of the Kuru warriors, also was a disciple of Bhargava Rama. Kripa

Kripa

Not to be confused with "Kripa" , a female given name.Kripa , also known as Kripacharya or Krupacharya is an important character in the Mahābhārata, one of the seven Chiranjivin .He was the son of Shardwan and Janapadi, born in a particularly extraordinary manner Not to be confused with "Kripa" , a...

was another preceptor of arms. Under the guidance of all these scions of military science, the Pandavas and Kauravas became highly skilled in warfare. This military academy was the reason for the dominance of Kauravas and Pandavas among the kingdoms of ancient India. Archary, Mace fight, sword fight, other weapons like javelin --- these in permutation with the modes of warfare viz on foot, on a horse, on a chariot and on a war-elephant --- all these were taught by Drona to his disciples in this academy. He also taught how to form military formations and how to strategize the military moves and how to ride chariots. Archery was the speciality taught in excellence by Drona, especially when the bowman was moving in a chariot. Arjuna

Arjuna

was the foremost among his disciples as a bowman. Bhima

Bhima

In the Mahābhārata, Bhima is one of the central characters of Mahabharata and the second of the Pandava brothers...

and Duryodhana

Duryodhana

excelled in mace-fight; Dhristadyumna

Dhristadyumna

Dhrishtadyumna , also known as Draupada, was the son of Drupada and brother of Draupadi and Shikhandi in the epic Mahābhārata...

, Nakula

Nakula

and Sahadeva

Sahadeva

excelled in sword-fight.

Even Dhristadyumna

Dhristadyumna

Dhrishtadyumna , also known as Draupada, was the son of Drupada and brother of Draupadi and Shikhandi in the epic Mahābhārata...

, the prince from the Panchala Kingdom

Panchala Kingdom

which was closest competitor of the Kurus for dominance in Aryavarta, came to study the science of warfare under Drona, in his military academy at Hastinapura

Hastinapura

, the capital of Kurus (1,169). Others who come to Hastinapura seeking military science were Ekalavya

Ekalavya

In the Hindu epic Mahābhārata, Ekalavya is a young prince of the Nishadha tribes, and a member of a low caste, who aspires to study archery in the gurukul of Dronacharya. After being rejected by Drona due to his low caste, Eklavya embarks upon a program of self-study in the presence of a clay...

the prince of Nishada Kingdom

Nishada Kingdom

Nishada was the kingdom of the Nishada Tribe, a tribe of people who the Vedic people considered valour and courageous.Ekalavya was a king of a Nishada tribe. He attacked Dwaraka once, and was killed by Vasudeva Krishna in the battle. This kingdom was located in Aravalli ranges in Rajasthan state of...

(1,134) and Karna

Karna

Karna or Radheya is one of the central characters in the epic Mahābhārata, from ancient India. He was the King of Anga...

the prince from Anga Kingdom

Anga Kingdom

Anga was a kingdom ruled by non-Vedic rulers. Anga king Lomapada was a friend of Kosala king Dasaratha. Kosala Princess Santha, elder to Raghava Rama, lived as the daughter of Lomapada, since he was childless. Duryodhana established Karna as the ruler of Angas. It is believed that there were many...

, ruled by Suta

Suta

Sūta refers both to the bards of Puranic stories and to a mixed caste. According to Manu Smriti the sūta caste are children of a Kshatriya father and Brahmin mother. The narrator of the several of the Puranas, Ugrasrava Sauti, son of Lomaharshana, was also called Sūta. Authorities are divided on...

tribes.

The territories of Lunar Dynasty kings

The first king Pururavas was always surrounded by companions that were superhuman (See Exotic Tribes of Ancient India
Exotic tribes of ancient India
The classic Indian epics such as the Mahabharata, the Ramayana and the Puranas refer to many exotic tribes, describing them as superhuman or subhuman. Narrations about these tribes are often mixed with mythology and fiction...

). It was Pururavas who first brought from the region of the Gandharvas
Gandharva Kingdom
Gandharva Kingdom refers to the territory inhabited by a people called the Gandharvas, who were one of the Exotic Tribes of Ancient India. They were well versed in music and dance. Gandarvas were also powerful warriors who roamed in Indian kingdoms disregarding any Indian king or Kshatriya warrior...

the three kinds of fire (1,75). His kingdom lied probably beyond the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...

in Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

or still north in Xinjiyang or in Kyrgistan.
Nahusha is mentioned as ruling even the territories of Devas
Deva (Hinduism)
' is the Sanskrit word for god or deity, its related feminine term is devi. In modern Hinduism, it can be loosely interpreted as any benevolent supernatural beings. The devs in Hinduism, also called Suras, are often juxtaposed to the Asuras, their half brothers. Devs are also the maintainers of...

(somewhere in Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

). Yayati was the first king in the line to interact with the Asura clans like the Vrishaparvas (Vrishaparva's kingdom lied to the north of Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand , formerly Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the Land of Gods due to the many holy Hindu temples and cities found throughout the state, some of which are among Hinduism's most spiritual and auspicious places of pilgrimage and worship...

, in Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

).
Yayati's son Puru established the Paurava dynasty, one of the branches of the Lunar Dynasty
Lunar Dynasty
In Hindu mythology, the Lunar Dynasty is one of the three principal houses of the Kshatriya varna, or warrior–ruling caste...

. He probably ruled the regions south of Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...

in Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand , formerly Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the Land of Gods due to the many holy Hindu temples and cities found throughout the state, some of which are among Hinduism's most spiritual and auspicious places of pilgrimage and worship...

, Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...

and Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...

.
Among the descendants of Puru, Dushyanta's son Bharata was the foremost who established the Bharata dynasty. During this time the dynasty ruled the whole regions now known as the Indo-Gangatic plain and extended their power up to the Vindhya ranges in the south. In his line, was born Samvarana.
During the time of Samvarana, the dynasty was banished by the Panchalas
Panchala Kingdom
This article is about the kingdom of Panchala during the epic-ages. For the historical kingdom, see Panchala.Panchala Kingdom extended from Himalayas in the north to river Charmanwati in the south during the period of Mahabharata. It had Kuru, Surasena and Matsya kingdoms to the west and the forest...

to south and west. There they lived on the banks of Sindhu and in the valleys of the western mountains.
Samvarana's son Kuru established the Kuru dynasty and re-established in their old territory in the Indo-Gangatic plain. They ruled the regions between Sarasvati River
Sarasvati River
The Sarasvati River is one of the chief Rigvedic rivers mentioned in ancient Hindu texts. The Nadistuti hymn in the Rigveda mentions the Sarasvati between the Yamuna in the east and the Sutlej in the west, and later Vedic texts like Tandya and Jaiminiya Brahmanas as well as the Mahabharata...

and Ganges
Ganges River
The Ganges or Ganga, , is a trans-boundary river of India and Bangladesh. The river rises in the western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and flows south and east through the Gangetic Plain of North India into Bangladesh, where it empties into the Bay of Bengal. By discharge it...

. This was the Kuru Kingdom inherited by Pratipa, Santanu
Santanu
Shantanu was a Kuru king of Hastinapura, who is mentioned in the great epic of the Mahābhārata. He was a descendant of the Bharata race, of the lunar dynasty and the ancestor of the Pandavas and the Kauravas. The Rigveda mentions Shantanu. He was the youngest son of King Pratipa of Hastinapura...

, Vichitraviry and Dhritarashtra
Dhritarashtra
In the Mahābhārata, Dhritarashtra was King of Hastinapur at the time of the Kurukshetra War, the epic's climactic event. He was born the son of Vichitravirya's first wife Ambika, and was fathered by Vyasa. He was blind from birth, and became father to a hundred children by his wife Gandhari...

. During the reign of Dhritarashtra, due to his lack of interest in satisfying requsts of his subjects, the Kuru kingdom is mentioned as declining from its prosperity (9,41). Pandavas with Yudhisthira
Yudhisthira
In the great Hindu epic Mahabharata, Yudhisthira , the eldest son of King Pandu and Queen Kunti, was king of Indraprastha and later of Hastinapura. He was the leader of the Pandava side in the Kurukshetra War...

as their king temporarily raised the importance of Kuru kingdom, by his military campaigns through his four powerful brothers viz Bhima
Bhima
In the Mahābhārata, Bhima is one of the central characters of Mahabharata and the second of the Pandava brothers...

, Arjuna
Arjuna
Arjuna in Indian mythology is the greatest warrior on earth and is one of the Pandavas, the heroes of the Hindu epic Mahābhārata. Arjuna, whose name means 'bright', 'shining', 'white' or 'silver' Arjuna (Devanagari: अर्जुन, Thai: อรชุน, Orachun, Tamil: Arjunan, Indonesian and Javanese: Harjuna,...

, Nakula
Nakula
Nakula, also spelt "Nakul" was one of the five Pandava brothers according to the epic Mahābhārata. Nakula and Sahadeva were fraternal twins born to Madri, who had invoked the Ashvins using a mantra for a son, the mantra shared by Kunti...

and Sahadeva
Sahadeva
Sahadeva was one of the five Pandava brothers according to the epic Mahābhārata. He was one of the twin sons of Madri, who invoked Ashvins using a mantra shared by Kunti for a son. His twin brother was named Nakula...

. He conquered the whole of ancient India and brought tribute from numerous kings. But that prospirity vanished in Kurukshetra War
Kurukshetra war
According to the Indian epic poem Mahābhārata, a dynastic succession struggle between two groups of cousins of an Indo-Aryan kingdom called Kuru, the Kauravas and Pandavas, for the throne of Hastinapura resulted in the Kurukshetra War in which a number of ancient kingdoms participated as allies of...

, when the Kuru warriors annihilated each other, destroying along with them, many ruling clans in ancient India. The destruction was so immense that the entire ancient India succumbed to a long-lasting socio-economic-depression. The ancient Indian texts mention this Dark Age of depression and anarchy as Kali Yuga
Kali Yuga
Kali Yuga is the last of the four stages that the world goes through as part of the cycle of yugas described in the Indian scriptures. The other ages are Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga and Dvapara Yuga...

.

Places in Kuru Kingdom

Hastinapura

was the biggest city in Kuru Kingdom and was the capital of Kauravas, while the Pandavas ruled at Indraprastha, which grew into the second largest city of the Kuru Kingdom. Apart from these to main cities , Kuru kingdom contain many towns like Vardhamana, Pramanakoti, Varanavati, Vrikastali; provinces like Makandi; plains like Kurukshetra

Kurukshetra

and forests like Kamyaka Forest

Kamyaka Forest

Kamyaka Forest was situated on the western boundary of the Kuru Kingdom , on the banks of the Saraswati River. It lay to the west of the Kurukshetra plain. It contained within it a lake called the Kamyaka lake . Kamyaka forest is mentioned as being situated at the head of the Thar desert, near...

and Dwaita Forest

Dwaita Forest

Dvaita Forest or Dvaitavana was situated to the south of the Kamyaka Forest. It contained within it a lake called the Dwaita lake, abounding with flowers, and delightful to look at, and inhabited by many species of birds, elephants and many trees . It was on the south-western outskirts of...

at the frienges of its territory.

Kurus in Kurukshetra War

The whole Kurukshetra War

Kurukshetra war

was fought for the sake of the two factions of the royal family of the Kurus, viz the Kauravas and the Pandavas. They brought into this war almost all the rulers of ancient India. The colossal destruction of life and wealth in this war led ancient India into a socio-economic depression (otherwise known as the Kali Yuga

Kali Yuga

Kali Yuga is the last of the four stages that the world goes through as part of the cycle of yugas described in the Indian scriptures. The other ages are Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga and Dvapara Yuga...

or the Dark Age) that lasted for a long period .

The prominent Kuru heroes who fought in the war were the five Pandavas, their sons, Duryodhana

Duryodhana

and his brothers, their sons and the Kuru grandsire viz Bhishma

Bhishma

. The remote cousins of the Kurus in Bahlika

Bahlika Kingdom

, who were also considered as Kurus, also fought the war. They were king Bahlika, his son Somadatta and Somadatta's sons viz Bhurisravas and Sala. Drona

Drona

and Kripa

Kripa

, the two preceptors in military science who dwelled with the Kurus, and who were counted among the Kuru warriors, also participated in the war.

For further details see Kurukshetra War

Kurukshetra war

Establishment of Yadava rulers in Kurujangala

After the Yadava

Yadu

rule in Dwaraka

Dwaraka Kingdom

In the Mahabharata, Dvārakā is the capital of the Yadus who ruled the Anarta Kingdom....

ended when the Dwaraka island sank into ocean, Arjuna

Arjuna

, bringing the remnant Yadavas from there to Kurukshetra, established them in various regions around Kurukshetra.

The son of Kritavarma

Kritavarma

Kritavarma was an important Yadava warrior and chieftain, and a contemporary of Krishna. He finds mention in several ancient Sanskrit texts including the Mahābhārata, the Vishnu Purana, the Bhagavata Purana and the Harivamsa....

(the Bhoja-Yadava hero) was established in the city called Martikavata. (It was the capital of Salwa Kingdom

Salwa Kingdom

Salwa is a kingdom grouped among the western kingdoms in the epic Mahabharata. It is close to Madra Kingdom as both are mentioned together in many places. Saubha is its capital. Martikavati also is mentioned as the capital of Salwa kingdom. The famous prince Satyavan was from Salwa...

that lied to the south-west of Kurujangala). Vrishni-Yadava hero viz Satyaki

Satyaki

Yuyudhana , better known as Satyaki , was a powerful warrior belonging to the Vrishni clan of the Yadavas, to which Krishna also belonged. According to the Puranas, he was grandson of Shini of the Vrishni clan, and son of Satyaka. Satyaki was devoted to Krishna and his best friend Arjuna, with...

's son was established on the banks of Sarasvati River

Sarasvati River

. Prince Vajra of Vasudeva Krishna's line was established at Indraprastha (16,7).

The Kuru lineage was continued by Parikshit the son of Abhimanyu
Abhimanyu
Abhimanyu is a tragic hero in the Hindu epic, the Mahābhārata. He is the son of Arjuna and Subhadra, who is the half-sister of Lord Krishna...

, at Hastinapura
Hastinapura
Hastinapur is a town and a nagar panchayat in Meerut district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.-History:Hastinapur was the capital of the kingdom of the Kauravas, belonging to the Kuru dynasty of kings. The throne of this city was the prize over which the Kurukshetra War of the epic...

, after the rule of Pandava
Pandava
In the Hindu epic Mahābhārata, the Pandava are the five acknowledged sons of Pandu , by his two wives Kunti and Madri. Their names are Yudhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. Although, Karna is told by Lord Krishna that according to the laws and ethics he is the first son of Kunti making...

king Yudhisthira
Yudhisthira
In the great Hindu epic Mahabharata, Yudhisthira , the eldest son of King Pandu and Queen Kunti, was king of Indraprastha and later of Hastinapura. He was the leader of the Pandava side in the Kurukshetra War...

. Parikshit's son Janamejaya
Janamejaya
Janamejaya was a Kuru king. He was the son of Parikshit and Madravati. He was the grandson of Abhimanyu and the great-grandson of Arjuna, the valiant warrior hero of the Mahābhārata. He was ascended to the Kuru throne following the death of his father. His significance comes as the listener of the...

was the last famous Kuru king

External links

Coins of Kuru janapada

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Geography

Kurujangala

Kuru

Uttara Kuru

Kurus of Buddha's times

Kuru Dharma

Kuru-Puru-Bharata connection

Puranic view of Kuru origin

The First Kuru King

The descendants of king Puru

Branches of Panchalas and Kusikas

Temporary Exile of the forefathers of Kurus

The origin of Kuru Dynasty

Birth of Kuru king Santanu

The lineage from Daksha to Janamejaya’s grandson

Lunar Dynasty

Birth of Yadu, Turvusu, Druhyu, Anu and Puru

Puru Dynasty

Bharata dynasty

Kuru Dynasty

The descendants of Santanu

Birth of Pandavas and Kauravas

The sons of Pandavas

Abhimanyu, Parikshit, Janamejaya and his descendants

Military academy of Drona

The territories of Lunar Dynasty kings

Places in Kuru Kingdom

Kurus in Kurukshetra War

Establishment of Yadava rulers in Kurujangala

See also

External links