Rukmini is a Hindu goddess and the first queen of Krishna. In Vaishnavism, she is described as Krishna's principal queen as well as the chief of his wives in Dvaraka. Rukmini is considered as the avatar of Lakshmi and is the goddess of fortune. Rukmini is venerated primarily in Warkari, and Haridasa tradition, and additionally in Sri Vaishnavism.
Damayanti is a figure in a love story found in the Vana Parva book of the Mahabharata. She is the daughter of Bhima and a princess of the Vidarbha Kingdom, who marries King Nala of the Nishadha kingdom. The figure is also found in other Hindu texts by many authors in numerous Indian languages. She, along with Nala, are the central figures in the 12th century text Nishadha Charita, one of the five mahakavyas in the canon of Sanskrit literature, written by Sriharsha.
Nala is a character in the Vana Parva book of the Mahabharata. He was the king of Nishadha Kingdom and the son of Veerasena. Nala was known for his skill with horses and for his culinary expertise. He married princess Damayanti, of the Vidarbha Kingdom. He was blessed by goddess Kali. He was also a great cook and wrote the first-ever book on cookery, Pakadarpanam. He is said to have been able to cook a full meal without lighting fire.
The Yadava were an ancient Indian people who believed to be descended from Yadu, a legendary king of Chandravamsha lineage.
Kosala is the kingdom of Rama mentioned in the Ramayana. Ayodhya was its capital, now located in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. Rama's sons Lava and Kusha inherited parts of this kingdom. Lava ruled from the city called Shravasti and Kusa from the city called Kushavati. A colony of Kosala kings existed in Madhya Pradesh. It was called Dakshina Kosala. Rama's mother Kausalya was from this kingdom. Rama extended his influence up to the island-kingdom of Lanka situated in the Indian Ocean. He had friendly relations with the southern kingdom of Kishkindha.
Chedi was a kingdom which fell roughly in the Bundelkhand division of Madhya Pradesh regions to the south of river Yamuna along the river Ken. Its capital city was called Suktimati in Sanskrit.
The Dasarna kingdom was one of the many kingdoms ruled by Yadava kings in ancient central and western India. It lay to the south of the Chedi and Panchala kingdoms, in northern Madhya Pradesh. The Panchala prince Sikhandi married a princess from Dasarna. Sikhandi was alleged to be 'one of the neuter-gender'. This led to a dispute between the Dasarna king and the Panchala king Drupada.
The historical Avanti kingdom of ancient India is described in the Mahabharata epic. Avanti was divided into north and south by river Vetravati. Initially, Mahissati was the capital of southern Avanti, and Ujjaini was of northern Avanti, but at the times of Mahavira and Buddha, Ujjaini was the capital of integrated Avanti. The country of Avanti roughly corresponded to modern Malwa, Nimar and adjoining parts of the Madhya Pradesh.
Anarta is a Vedic period kingdom of ancient India described in the Mahabharata, roughly forming the northern Gujarat state of India. It was founded by the father of Vaivasvata Manu and Yama, named Anarta. He built a fortress at Kusasthali (Dvaraka), which was later flooded by Varuna. The place remained then for some time as a forest land, before Krishna and the Yadavas went there and built Dvaraka. It was then ruled by Yadavas after they fled from Mathura of Surasena kingdom, due to the attacks of Jarasandha, the king of Magadha. The Yadava chiefs like Vasudeva Krishna, Bala Rama, Kritavarma and Satyaki, ruled this kingdom under their king Ugrasena. In Mahabharata, Dwaraka is considered as a capital city of Anarta kingdom. But some other ancient texts like Mahabhagavata, mentions Dwaraka and Anarta as two independent kingdoms. As per the Purana viz. Bhagavata Purana, Bala Rama's wife Revati was from this kingdom.
The Kekeya kingdom was a kingdom mentioned in the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata among the western kingdoms of then India. The epic Ramayana mentions one of the wives of Dasharatha, the king of Kosala and father of Rama, was from Kekeya kingdom and was known as Kaikeyi. Her son Bharata conquered the neighbouring kingdom of Gandhara and built the city of Takshasila. Later the sons and descendants of Bharata ruled this region from Takshasila.
The Vidarbha kingdom in the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata is among the many kingdoms ruled by Yadu kings . It was situated in the region still known as Vidarbha in what is now Maharashtra in central India.
Dasharna was an ancient Indian janapada (realm) in eastern Malwa region between the Dhasan River and the Betwa River. The name of the janapada was derived from the Daśārṇa, the ancient name of the Dhasan River. The janapada was also known as Akara and Rudradaman I in his Junagarh rock inscription referred to this region by this name. Kalidasa in his Meghaduta mentioned the city of Vidisha as the capital of Dasharna. Other important cities of this janapada were Erakina and Erikachha. According to the Mahabharata, the queen of king Virabahu or Subahu of Chedi kingdom and the queen of king Bhima of Vidarbha were daughters of the king of Dasharna.
Shishupala was the king of the Chedi kingdom, and an antagonist in the Mahabharata. He was the son of King Damaghosha and Srutashrava, the sister of Kunti, as well as the cousin of Nanda. He was slain by Krishna, his cousin and an avatar of Vishnu, at the great coronation ceremony of Yudhishthira, as a punishment for his opprobrious abuse made against him. He is also referred to as Chaidya. Shishupala is considered to be the third and last birth of Vishnu's gatekeeper Jaya.
Rukmi is the ruler of Vidarbha according to the epic Mahabharata. He was the son of King Bhishmaka and the elder brother of Rukmini. The Harivamsa mentions that Rukmi was trained in the arts of warfare by the ruler of Kimpurushas, Druma. He also obtained weapons from Parashurama. Krishna married Rukmini by eloping with her from Vidarbha, even though Rukmi wanted to give her as a bride to the Chedi king Shishupala. He fought with Krishna, but was defeated. When Krishna was about to kill him, Rukmini begged that he spare her brother's life. Krishna agreed and let Rukmi go free, but not before having his head shaved as a visible sign of a warrior's defeat.
Bhojakata was the capital of Rukmi a Bhoja-Yadava king of Vidarbha Kingdom. Rukmi wanted his sister Rukmini to be married by the Chedi king Shishupala, but she was in love with Vasudeva Krishna. Krishna abducted Rukmini against the will of Rukmi. Then king Rukmi left the capital of Vidarbha, viz Kundinapuri and chased Krishna. He pledged that he will not return to his capital without Rukmini. But he was defeated by Krishna's army. Rukmi kept his promise by constructing another capital for Vidarbha, to the west of Kundinapuri called Bhojakata. Since then he started ruling from this new capital. He never returned to Kundinapuri.
Bhishmaka, also called Hiranyaroman, is the king of Vidarbha In Hinduism. He is the father of Rukmini, the chief wife of Krishna and an incarnation of the goddess Lakshmi.
Kaundanyapur is a village in Amravati District in the state of Maharashtra, India, thought to be the site of Kundinapuri, ancient capital of the legendary Vidarbha Kingdom.
The Bhoja tribes were a collection of semi-Aryan ancient tribes, located in India during the Late Vedic Period. They are described as being an offshoot of the Yadava tribe in the Indian epic of Mahabharata. They were a branch of the Andhaka clan, who were in turn descendants of the Satvata clan descended from King Yadu. The Bhojas were sub-divided into eighteen branches and ruled from their capital at Mrittikavati, on the banks of the Parnasa river in Central India.
Nala and Damayanti is an episode from the Indian epic Mahabharata. It is about King Nala and his wife Damayanti : Nala loses his kingdom in a game of dice and has to go into exile with his faithful wife Damayanti in the forest, where he leaves her. Separated from each other, the two have many adventures before they are finally reunited and Nala regains his kingdom.
