Yadu
Encyclopedia
Indo-Aryans
Indo-Aryan is an ethno-linguistic term referring to the wide collection of peoples united as native speakers of the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-Iranian family of Indo-European languages...
tribes (panchajana, panchakrishtya or panchamanusha) mentioned in the Rig Veda (I.54.6, I.108.7, X.62.10). 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....
, the Harivamsha and the Puranas mention Yadu as the eldest son of king 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 ....
and his queen 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 prince of King Yayati, Yadu was a self-respecting and a very established ruler. According to the Vishnu Purana
Vishnu Purana
The Vishnu Purana is a religious Hindu text and one of the eighteen Mahapuranas. It is considered one of the most important Puranas and has been given the name Puranaratna...
, the Bhagavata Purana
Bhagavata purana
The Bhāgavata Purāṇa is one of the "Maha" Puranic texts of Hindu literature, with its primary focus on bhakti to the incarnations of Vishnu, particularly Krishna...
and the Garuda Purana
Garuda Purana
Garuda Purana is one of the Puranas which are part of the Hindu body of texts known as smriti. It is a Vaishnava Purana and its first part contains a dialog between Vishnu and Garuda, the King of Birds...
Yadu had four sons, while according to the rest of the Puranas he had five sons. The names of his sons are: Sahasrajit (or Sahasrada), Kroshtu (or Kroshta),, Nila, Antika and Laghu. The kings between Budha
Budha
In Hindu mythology, Budha is the name for the planet Mercury, a son of Chandra with Tara or Rohini. He is also the god of merchandise and protector of Merchants....
and 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 ....
were known as Somavanshi. According to a narrative found in 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....
, and the Vishnu Purana
Vishnu Purana
The Vishnu Purana is a religious Hindu text and one of the eighteen Mahapuranas. It is considered one of the most important Puranas and has been given the name Puranaratna...
, Yadu refused to exchange his years of youth with his father Yayati. So he was cursed by Yayati that none of Yadu's progeny shall possess the dominion under his father's command. Thereby, he could not have carried on the same dynasty, called Somavamshi. Notably, the only remaining dynasty of King Puru was entitled to be known as Somavamshi. Thereby King Yadu ordered that the future generations of his would be known as Yadavas and the dynasty would be known as Yaduvamshi. The generations of Yadu had an unprecedented growth and got divided into two branches.
History
According to A. H. Bingley, writing in 1899, Jadu settlements were at Indraprastha and DwarkaDwarka
Dwarka also spelled Dvarka, Dwaraka, and Dvaraka, is a city and a municipality of Jamnagar district in the Gujarat state in India. Dwarka , also known as Dwarawati in Sanskrit literature is rated as one of the seven most ancient cities in the country...
. After the death of Krishna, the Yadus were driven out of India, founded Ghazni in Afganistan, and ruled over the whole of that country and portions of central Asia, as far north as Samarkand
Samarkand
Although a Persian-speaking region, it was not united politically with Iran most of the times between the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire and the Arab conquest . In the 6th century it was within the domain of the Turkic kingdom of the Göktürks.At the start of the 8th century Samarkand came...
. The pressure of Greco-Bactrian and Muslim invasions forced them back into the Punjab, and later period they were driven across the Satluj into the Bikaner desert, where they established themselves as Jaisalmer
Jaisalmer
Jaysalmer , nicknamed "The Golden City", is a town in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located west from the state capital Jaipur. It was once known as Jaisalmer state. The town stands on a ridge of yellowish sandstone, crowned by a fort, which contains the palace and several ornate Jain...
. In the Punjab the Yadus are known as Bhattis, but comparatively few are Hindus, the majority converted to Islam shortly after the early Muslim conquests. A large number of the Muslims of eastern Rajputana are of Yadu descent, and are known locally as Khansadas and Meo
Meo
Mayo or Meo or Mewati is a prominent Muslim Rajput tribe from North-Western India. A considerable number of Meos migrated to Pakistan after independence in 1947 and now they are estimated to be over 12 million. In Pakistan, Meos have lost their distinct group identity and cultural traditions and...
s.
In Awadh and in the North Western provinces where the Yadons have numerous settlements, the clan is divided. One branch calls itself Yaduvanshi Ahirs, to distinguish it from Yadons of the Daob, who have lost status through practising Karao or widow -marriage, and through violating Rajput custom by marrying into their own clan.
Descendants
King Sasasrajit's descendants were named after his grandson Haihaya and were well known as the HaihayasHaihayas
The Haihayas were an ancient confederacy of five ganas , who claimed their common ancestry from Yadu. According to the Harivamsha Purana...
. King Kroshtu's descendants had no special name, but were known particularly as the "Yadava
Yadava
The Yadavas were an ancient Indian people who believed themselves to be descended from Yadu, a mythical king. The community was probably formed of four clans, being the Abhira, Andhaka, Vrishni, and Satvatas, who all worshipped Lord Krishna. They are listed in ancient Indian literature as the...
s", According to P.L. Bhargava, when the original territory was partitioned between Sahasrajit and Kroshta, the former received the part lying to the western bank of the river Sindhu and the latter received the territory situated along the east bank of the river. King Haihaya was Shatajit's son and Sahasrajit's grandson. King Sahasrajit instituted a new state and a new dynasty and offered the same, by his own will and against his birth right, to be taken care of by his younger brother Kroshta. Thereby, Kroshta officially became the heir of King Yadu.
Consequently, the generations of King 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...
, Paurav or 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...
vanshi were the only ones to be known as Somvanshi.
The regions where the Yadu clan settled is not certain, but certain scholars suggest that Yadu clan inherited the territories to the south-west of the Gangetic plains, between the Chambal River
Chambal River
The Chambal River is a tributary of the Yamuna River in central India, and forms part of the greater Gangetic drainage system. The river flows north-northeast through Madhya Pradesh, running for a time through Rajasthan, then forming the boundary between Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh before turning...
, Betwa and Ken, which correspond to the border areas of present 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...
n states of 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...
, 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...
and Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
.
The descendants of Yadu tribe (Yaduvanshi) include 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...
. Yadu-Dynasty belongs to the family deriving from Soma
Soma
Soma , or Haoma , from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sauma-, was a ritual drink of importance among the early Indo-Iranians, and the subsequent Vedic and greater Persian cultures. It is frequently mentioned in the Rigveda, whose Soma Mandala contains 114 hymns, many praising its energizing qualities...
, identified with the moon god Chandra. Yaduvanshi Kshatriyas were originally Ahirs
Ahirs
Ahir is an Indian caste. The term can be used synonymously with Yadav, as the latter term refers to Ahirs who have identified as Yadavs. The major divisions of Ahirs are: Yaduvanshi, Nandvanshi, and Gwalvanshi.-Etymology:...
.
Several Chandravanshi castes and communities in modern India, such as the Sainis of Punjab Province
Saini
Saini is a Rajput descent caste of India. Sainis, also known as Shoorsaini in Puranic literature, are now found by their original name only in Punjab and in the neighboring states of Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh...
, Jadaun
Jadaun
The Jadaun are a clan of Chandravanshi Rajputs found in North India and Pakistan.-Origins:...
Rajput
Rajput
A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...
s, Yaduvanshi Ahirs, Chudasama
Chudasama
The Chudasama are a Rajput clan found in the state of Gujarat in India. The Chudasama dynasty,originally of Abhira clan from Sindh. The disambiguition of the name Chudasama means, Chuda-Sama, 'Chuda' is an Indian word used for big bangles which are normally worn on the wrist of Indian women and...
, Jadeja
Jadeja
Jadeja belong to the Yaduvanshi rajputs or Chandravanshi rajputs. They are one of the 36 royal dynasties of old tracing their origins to Lord Krishna...
, Jadaun
Jadaun
The Jadaun are a clan of Chandravanshi Rajputs found in North India and Pakistan.-Origins:...
, Ahirs
Ahirs
Ahir is an Indian caste. The term can be used synonymously with Yadav, as the latter term refers to Ahirs who have identified as Yadavs. The major divisions of Ahirs are: Yaduvanshi, Nandvanshi, and Gwalvanshi.-Etymology:...
, Jadoon
Jadoon
The Jadoons are one of the largest Pashtun tribes in Pakistan. They originate from Jallalabad and are now located in the southern Hazara Division area of Khyber Pakhtoonkhuwa, Pakistan, partly in Gadoon area in Swabi on the southern slopes of Mahaban Mountains, and partly in Abbottabad District...
(Pathan
Pashtun people
Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
), Khanzada
Khanzada
The Khanzada, or Khanzadah, is a subdivision of Rajputs, now found mainly in the Rajasthan, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh of India; and Sindh, Punjab provinces of Pakistan. Khanzadahs, the royal family of Muslim Jadon Rajputs, accepted Islam on their association with the Sufi Saints...
claim descent from Yadu.
See also
- Gawli
- King Shurasena
- List of Dhangar clans in India
- Lunar DynastyLunar DynastyIn Hindu mythology, the Lunar Dynasty is one of the three principal houses of the Kshatriya varna, or warrior–ruling caste...
- Martial RaceMartial RaceMartial Race was a designation created by Army officials of British India, where they classified each ethnic group into one of two categories: 'Martial' and 'Non-Martial'. A 'martial race' was typically considered brave and well built for fighting. The 'non-martial races' were those whom the...
s - NandvanshiNandvanshiNanda or Nandagopa, according to the Harivamsha and the Puranas, was the head of the gopas .It is said that Nand Baba owned 9 lakhs of cows Nandvanshi Ahirs are descendants of Nand....
- Rawal JaisalRawal JaisalRawal Jaisal was a Bhati rajput who lived during the 12th century and founded the city of Jaisalmer. Sixth in descent from Rawal Deoraj Bhati, he was the eldest son of Rawal Dusaj of Deoraj , which had its capital at Laudrava...