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Yudhishthira also known as Dharmaraja, was the king of Indraprastha and later the Kuru Kingdom in ancient Indian History and the eldest among the five Pandava brothers, he is also one of the central figures of the ancient Hindu epic Mahabharata.
Sahadeva was the youngest of the Pandava brothers, the five principal protagonists of the epic Mahabharata. He and his twin brother, Nakula, were blessed to Queen Madri by invoking the twin gods Ashvins and adopted by King Pandu. Trained by Drona, Kripa and Brihaspati, Sahadeva is described to be skilled in swordsmanship and astrology, and also Neeti Sastra. He went on a war campaign to southern part of India to subjugate kingdoms for the Rajasuya sacrifice, after crowning his Pandava brother Yudhishthira as the emperor of Indraprastha. He was exiled for 13 years along with his Pandava brothers, when Yudhishthira lost all his possessions, his brothers, and their common wife Draupadi to Duryodhana of Kuru Kingdom of Hastinapura during a dice game played by the wily Shakuni, the maternal uncle of Duryodhana. During his one year incognito living, as part of 13 years exile, he disguised as a cowherd and served in the Kingdom of Virata. During the 18-days Kurukshetra War, he slew many warriors including Shakuni. After the war, Yudhishthira appointed Sahadeva as the king of southern Madra. During his final journey of pilgrimage to the Himalayas, he succumbed en route, after Draupadi.
Kripa, also known as Kripacharya, is a figure in Hindu mythology. According to the epic Mahabharata, he was a council member of Kuru Kingdom and a teacher of the Pandava and Kaurava princes.
Daradas were a people who lived north and north-west to the Kashmir valley. This kingdom is identified to be the Gilgit region, in the Gilgit-Baltistan region along the river Sindhu or Indus. They are often spoken along with the Kambojas. The Pandava hero Arjuna had visited this country of Daradas during his northern military campaign to collect tribute for Yudhishthira's Rajasuya sacrifice.
Malla Kingdom was situated in the Gangatic plain between the Kosala and Videha. The epic Mahabharata speaks about a Malla conquered by the Pandava Bhima during his military campaign through the eastern kingdoms to collect tribute for King Yudhishthira's Rajasuya sacrifice.
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.
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.
Gandhāra was an Ancient Indian kingdom mentioned in the Indian epics Mahabharata and Ramayana. Gandhara prince Shakuni was the root of all the conspiracies of Duryodhana against the Pandavas, which finally resulted in the Kurukshetra War. Shakuni's sister was the wife of the Kuru king Dhritarashtra and was known as Gandhari after the area of Gandhāra. Puskalavati, Takshasila (Taxila) and Purushapura (Peshawar) were cities in this Gandhara kingdom. Takshasila was founded by Rama's brother Bharata. Bharata's descendants ruled this kingdom afterwards. During the epic's period, the kingdom was ruled by Shakuni's father Suvala, Shakuni and Shakuni's son. Arjuna defeated Shakuni's son during his post-war military campaign for Yudhishthira's Aswamedha Yajna.
Kasmira was a kingdom identified as the Kashmir Valley along the Jhelum River of modern Jammu and Kashmir. During the epic ages this was one among the territories of the Naga race. The Kasmiras were allies of the Kuru king Duryodhana.
Hara-Huna was an ancient kingdom and inhabited by the Hara Hunas tribe close to the Himalayas who had limited interaction with the Indian kingdoms, thus they were identified in the epic Mahabharata.
Rishika was an ancient kingdom inhabited by the Rishikas who were originally a tribe north to Himalayas who had limited interaction with early Indian kingdoms and mentioned in the epic Mahabharata. They belonged to the Xinjiang province of China, east of Kashmir. The Pandava hero, Arjuna visited this place during his northern military campaign for collecting tribute for Yudhishthira's Rajasuya sacrifice.
Suhma Kingdom was an ancient kingdom during the Late Vedic period on the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent, which originated in the region of Bengal. The kingdom included present day districts of Midnapore and parts of Hoogly and Howrah of West Bengal. This kingdom was mentioned in the epic Mahabharata along with its neighbouring kingdom Prasuhma.
Andhra was a kingdom mentioned in the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. It was a southern kingdom, currently identified as Indian state of Andhra Pradesh which got its name from.
Dravida is mentioned as one of the kingdoms in the southern part of present-day mainland India during the time of the Mahabharata.
Nishada is a tribe mentioned in ancient Indian literature. The ancient texts mention several kingdoms ruled by this tribe. In the Mahabharata and other Books, the Nishadas are described as hunters, fishermen, mountaineers, Bhil, Pulinda, Kirat, Saber or raiders that have the hills and the forests as their abode. Their origin is associated with a king called Vena who became a slave to wrath and malice, and became unrighteous. Sages killed him for his malice and wrongdoings. Ekalavya is stated to be an archer of a Nishada tribe in the text.
Kirata Kingdom in Sanskrit literature and Hindu mythology refers to any kingdom of the Kirata people, who were dwellers mostly in the Himalayas. They took part in the Kurukshetra War along with Parvatas (mountaineers) and other Himalayan tribes.
Bhagadatta was the son of Narakasura, and the king of Pragjyotisha in Hindu mythology. Bhagadatta was born from a limb of the asura called Bashkala. He was a renowned warrior, and was known to be a great friend of Indra. When Arjuna embarked on a conquest to help his brother Yudhishthira perform the rajasuya yajna, Bhagadatta was one of the first kings to be conquered by him.
Sabha Parva, also called the "Book of the Assembly Hall", is the second of eighteen books of Mahabharata. Sabha Parva traditionally has 10 parts and 81 chapters. The critical edition of Sabha Parva has 9 parts and 72 chapters.
The Vana Parva, also known as the "Book of the Forest", is the third of eighteen parvas in the Indian epic Mahabharata. Vana Parva traditionally has 21 parts and 324 chapters. The critical edition of Vana Parva is the longest of the 18 books in the epic, containing 16 parts and 299 chapters.
References
- Mahabharata of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, translated to English by Kisari Mohan Ganguli