VEDIC
ERA KINGS OF BHARAT
The
History of Bharat (Aryavrat) is impossible without the Rajputs /
Kshatriyas. It is not possible personally for me (Dr. Gaurav A.
Vyas) to include everything about the rich history of Rajput / Kshatriya
because I am a Bhramin and dont have deep knowledge of the rich
history of Rajput / Kshatriya. I am writing what information that
I came accross and if I have made mistake I sincerly apoligize to
the Rajput / Kshatriya community.
Purus
:
The
Purus were a clan, or a confederation of clans, mentioned many times
in the Rigved. RV 7.96.2 locates them at the banks of the Sarasvati
River. There were several factions of Purus, one being the Bharats.
[citation needed] Purus rallied many other groups against King Sudas
of the Bharat, but were defeated in the Battle of the Ten Kings
(RV 7.18, etc.).
Early
History :
India's
name Bharat or Bharat-Varsh is named after a descendant of the Puru
dynasty King Bharat.
There
were two main Vedic cultures in ancient India. The first was a northern
kingdom centered on the Sarasvati-Drishadvati river region dominated
by the Purus and the Ikshvakus. The second was a southern culture
along the coast of the Arabian Sea and into the Vindhya Mountains,
dominated by the Turvashas and Yadus and extending into groups yet
further south. These northern and southern groups vied for supremacy
and influenced each other in various ways as the Vedas and Puranas
indicate. The northern or Bharata culture ultimately prevailed,
making India the land of Bharat or Bharatvarsh and its main ancient
literary record the Vedas, though militarily the Yadus remained
strong throughout history.
Aryans
warriors of Bharat :
Aryans called themselves the descendants of Manu. Some say that
Aryans came to Bharat from Iran and when they came to Bharat in
two groups. Their strength cannot be ascertained. One of those
advanced straight through the northern plains and founded the town
of Ayodhya. The leader of this group was Ikshwaku, who had eight
brothers and one sister named Ahalya (or Ela). The other group settled
down on the banks of River Ganga in the area around Haridwar, and
stayed there for many generations. The leader of this group was
Buddh (not to be confused with Buddh who founded Buddhist Religion).
Buddh married Ikshvaku’s sister Ahalya. In his Dynasty were
Pandwa etc (not of Mahabharat age/epic). His son was Nahak and his
son Yayati, father of Jats.
Historians of the Rajput period have called the Ikshwaku group as
Surya Vanshi and the Buddha group as Chandra Vanshi, corresponding
to the Sun and Moon. Their origin has been linked with Brahma the
creator of the universe.
Bramha
![](suryaandchandravanshtree.jpg)
The
names included in this table, above Ikshwaku and Buddha are just
synonyms of the Sun, Moon and Planets.
Chandravanshi
lineage :
According to Puranic legend the Chandravanshi lineage
is :
Brahma
-> Atri -> Chandra -> Budha (married to Manu's daughter
Ila) -> Pururava -> Ayu -> Nahush -> Yayati -> Puru
and Yadu.
King
Yayati's elder son Yadu had officially lost the title to govern
by his father's command since he had refused to exchange his youth
with his father. Thereby, he could not have carried on the same
dynasty, called Somvanshi. Consequently, the generations of King
Puru, Paurav or Puruvanshi were the only one to be known as Somvansh.
Yayati
divided up his kingdom into five portions (VP IV.10.1708). To Turvasha
he gave the southeast (Bay of Bengal); to Druhya the west Gandhar;
to Yadu the south (By Arabian sea); to Anu the north Punjab; and
to Puru the center (Sarasvati region) as the supreme king of Earth.
The
Rig Ved notes an earlier period of Turvasha-Yadu predominance, which
the Purus broke in order to become the dominant people in the region.
Chandra
dynasty a major ancient Indian Kshatriyakul is known from empirical
literature. The first ruler (king) of the Aryans became Vaivasvat
Manu. The era of Sun-descendant warriors started with their nine
sons. Manu also had a daughter - Ela. See was married to Buddh (Mercury)
who was the son of Moon. He originated the Pururavas, called Ail
and became the first ruler of the Chandravanshi. His capital was
Pratishthan, where today Jhunsi is located near Prayag. Ayu and
Amavasu became extremely famous among Pururava's six sons. Ayu ruled
the establishment and Amavasu established a new dynasty at Kanyakubj.
Jahvu became famous among the kings of Kanyakubj, after whom Ganga
was named Jahnavi. Later Vishwarath or Vishwamitra also became famous,
Who came in the struggle of the priest of Kosal called Vashishth
in the Purohitya competition. Then he became ascetic and received
the title of Brahmarshi. After Ayu, his first born son Nahush became
the ruler of the establishment. His younger brother Kshatravruddh
established a kingdom in Kashi.
Among
the six sons of Nahush, Yati and Yayati were the chief. Yati became
a monk and Yayati got the throne. Yayati became the powerful and
conquering emperor and also the hero of many legacy stories. He
had five sons - Yadu, Turvasu, Druhyu, Anu and Puru. These five
carried their own dynasty and their descendants conquered far and
wide. Later, these dynasties were called Yadav's, Turvasu, Druhyus,
Anavas and Pauravas. The same Panchacharya in the Rigved: Having
said. A branch of the Yadav's became famous by the name of Haihay
and settled on the banks of the Narmada in Dakshinapath. Mahishmati
was the capital of the Haihas and Kartavirya Arjun became their
almighty and conquering king. The Turvasuke descendants first subordinated
the territories of the southeast, but later moved to the northwest.
The Druhyus captured the banks of Sindh and named the state Gandhar
after their king Gandhara. One branch of the Anuvas settled in eastern
Punjab and the other in eastern Bihar. There were famous kings called
Ushinar and Shivi in the Anava clan of Punjab.
Krishna
was born in Chandravansh. Several Kshatriya communities/clans claim
descent from Chandra. One of Brahma's son was Adi, whose son was
Chandra (Soma), from whom started Chandravansh. Thakur Deshraj writes
that those who follow the Lunar calendar for time calculation are
Chandravanshi kshatriyas.
According
to the historian 'Ram Lal Hala' the word Jat is derived from word
'Yat'. There was a king named 'Yat' or Yata in Chandravanshi clan
who was ancestor of Lord Krishna. The Jats are descendants of King
Yat. 'Yat' later changed to 'Jat'.
Krishna
belonged to this branch of the Chandravanshi of Vrishnis from whom
he got the name Varshneya.
The
Scythian writer Abul Gazi has called himself a Chandravanshi Jat.
He also writes that the mother of Scythian community was the daughter
of Aila or Ailya Devi.
According
to Thakur Deshraj, The Chandravanshi Aryans of India had habitations
in Iran which were known as Jatali. He has referred General Cunningham
who has mentioned the presence of Yayati Vanshi Jats in Jatali.
Yayati was son of Nahusha. This province got the name Jatali being
the habitation of Jats. The language of these Jats is Jadgali (alternate
names, Jatgali, Jatki, Jat).
Maharaja
Bhoj was son of Druhyu, the Chandravanshi Jatvansh King Yayati.
Kuru
Kings :
Kuru
was born after 25 generations of Puru's dynasty, and after 15 generations
of Kuru, Kauravas and Pandavas were born. These were the same renowned
Kauravas and Pandavas who fought the epic battle of Mahabharata.
The dynasty of the king Yadu - Andhak, Vrasni, and Bhoj, under the
leadership of Shree Krishna, helped the Pandavas win the battle.
According to Puranic tradition, the war occurred 95 generations
after Manu Vaivasvat. The Purans state that there are 1,050 years
between Parikshit of the Kurus and the last Kuru king at the time
of Mahapadma Nand.
Suryavansh
:
According
to the Puranic literature, Suryavansh or the Solar dynasty or the
Ikshvaku dynasty is an ancient and one of the oldest dynasty of
India. The sun god Surya, also known as Vivasvan is considered the
primogenitor of Suryavansh and his son Vaivasvat Manu is the progenitor
of humanity according to the Hindu texts. However, it was the magnanimous
King Ikshvaku of the ancient kingdom of Koshal who became the first
chakravarti or the universal ruler when he conquered far distant
lands of Aryavart and established a formidable empire. Thus, the
dynasty derived his name and was also called Ikshvaku dynasty. Lord
Ram belonged to the Suryavansh or Ikshvaku dynasty. Twenty-two out
of the twenty-four Jain Tirthankara belonged to this dynasty. According
to the Buddhist texts, Prince Siddharth belonged to this dynasty.
The dynasty is also known as Raghuvansh or Raghu-kula because of
King Raghu who was the great grandson of Ikshavaku and great grandfather
of Lord Ram.
The
prominent kings and emperors belonging to this royal house are Mandhatri,
Muchukund, Ambarish, Dilip, Raghu, Aja, Dasharath, Ram, Bahubali,
Harishchandra, Sagaraand Pasenadi. Although, both the Hindu Puran's
and the Buddhist texts include Shuddodhan, Gautam Buddh and Rahul
in their accounts of the Ikshvaku dynasty, but according to the
Buddhist texts, Mahasammat, an ancestor of Ikshvaku was the founder
of this dynasty, who was elected by the people as the first king
of the present era. According to the Puranas, supreme preceptor
of the Ikshvaku dynasty was sage Vashishth.