Early History Of Himachal Pradesh
|| Early History Of Himachal Pradesh || Early History Of HP||Sangh Janapadas of Himachal Pradesh||
According to Mahabharata (1000 BC), the Himalayan region that is now Himachal Pradesh was divided into a number of small tribal republics. Katyayana mentioned two types of Janapadas i.e. Monarchial and Repulican or Sangh. The tribal republics were called the Sangh Janapadas. These Sanghs were known as Ayudhyajini Sangh according to Panini or Sastro-Pajini according to Kautilya. These were both a state and cultural unit.
Sangh Janapadas of Himachal
Some of the major Sanghs were as follows:
The Audumbaras
According to Mahabharata, the name Audumbar is the name of the descendant of sage Vishvamitra, who is the founder of gotra ‘Kaushika’. The Audumbaras was also known as Udumbaras or Odumbaras, the most prominent tribal community of Himachal Pradesh. They were advantageously settled in the route of Taxila to the Gangetic valley and Magadha to Kashmir. These areas were Western part of Kangra to Hoshiarpur districts (valley of Beas, or perhaps the wider region between the Sutlej and the Ravi). Panini’s reference of this tribe proves their existence in the 5th century BC.
Buddhist scholar Chandragomin referred them as a section of the Shalvas. The Audambaras were also mentioned in Satapatha Brahmana. The used copper and silver coins. The coins bear the name and figures clearly shows the shaiva affiliation of the Audumbaras. They are believed to be of Indo-Greek origin and were converted to Hinduism in 1st century BC. Ketumbra was famous embroidered clothes of Audumbaras. They were known for trade of cotton, wool and Udumbar (a type of figure) tree medicines.
The Trigarta
The first historical mention of Trigarta is found in the writings of Panini. It is also mentioned in the Mahabharata, Brihat Samhita and the Puranas. ‘Trigarta’ corresponds to the modern Kangra, the land drained by the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej rivers. It is believed that Trigarta was the alliance of six states, viz. Kaundopuaratha, Dandaki, Kraushtaki, Jalamani, Brahmagupta and Janaki. The square shaped coins found here denotes the existence of an independent republic in the 2nd century BC.
According to the Mahabharata, Susharman Chand of Katoch dynasty was the founder of Trigarta in 1400 BC. This king sided with Kauravas in the battle of Mahabharata. They settled in Jalandhara region and built the fort of Nagarkot which was also known as ‘Bhimkot’or ‘Kangra Fort’. This region holds a prominent place in the history of Himachal.
The Kuluta
The Kuluta is mentioned in the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Bhrampuran, the Markandeya Purana and the Brihat Samhita. Bhrampuran has a chapter on Kullu as Kulutapitha Mahatmya. The territory of the Kulutas was located in the upper Beas valley, now known as the Kullu valley. The Kulutas were close to the Audambaras. Kautilya called Kuluta Rajsubdin Sangh. Megasthenes also mentioned people named Colubae who were Kulutas. Unique copper coin of the Kulutas bears the name of Virayasasya Rajna Kulutasya’ (the Kuluta king Virayasa). The state capital was Naggar on the Beas.
The Kulindas
The Kulindas (or Kunindas) was referred in the Mahabharata (Arjuna conquered Kulindas), Vishnu Purana, Vayu Purana and Markandeya Purana. The Kulindas lived between the Beas, Sutlej, Ganga and Yamuna rivers, between the plains of Ambala and Saharanpur and from Kangra to Kumaon. The Kulindas was also mentioned by Ptolemy (e 140 AD) in his book “Geographika’. The Kulindas were independent and issued copper and silver coins. The coins furnished one name, i.e. King Amoghabhuti written in Brahmi and Kharosthi script. He ruled most probably during the later half of the 1st century BC. When the Sakas invaded Punjab, the Kulindas were defeated and lost their independence. The Kulindas had a republican form of https://himexam.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Madhya-Pradesh-MP-PEB-Group-2-Sub-Group-4-Various-Post-Answer-Key-2021.jpgistration. All the members of the tribal assembly were called “Rajas’ and the President of the Chief of the house was called *Maharaja’. The copper coinage was used for local circulation and had Brahmi script. The silver coins which were likely to travel beyond the home territories, had Kharosthi script on them. From the silver coinage, we can infer that they were fairly prosperous.
|| Early History Of Himachal Pradesh || Early History Of HP||Sangh Janapadas of Himachal Pradesh||
