The History and Culture of the Indian People v1.c19.s2.1

v1.c19.s2.1

The whole of the territory known to the Vedic settlers was divided into a number of tribal principalities ruled normally by kings. The *Dāśarājña* or the battle of the ten kings is an important historical event alluded to in various hymns of the *Ṛigveda*, and as many of the important tribes and personalities figured in this famous battle, it is worth while outlining the conflict. Sudās was a Bharata king of the Tṛitsu family which was settled in the country which later came to be known as Brahmāvarta. At first Viśvāmitra, a scion of the Kuśika family of the Bharatas, was the priest of Sudās, and led him to victorious campaigns on the Vipāś and Śutudrī. Viśvāmitra, however, was dismissed later by Sudās, who appointed Vasishṭha as his priest, probably on account of the superior Brahmanical knowledge of the Vasishṭhas. Thereupon a long and bitter rivalry ensued between the two priests, and in revenge Viśvāmitra led a tribal confederacy of ten kings against the Bharatas, the federation consisting of the five well-known tribes Pūru, Yadu, Turvaśa, Anu, and Druhyu, along with five of little note. viz. Alina, Paktha, Bhalānas, Śiva, and Vishāṇin. In the bloody and decisive struggle on the Parushṇī, the Bharatas emerged victorious, utterly routing the confederacy, of whom the Anu and Druhyu kings were drowned, and Purukutsa of the Pūrus met his death. There was another battle that Sudās had to fight in which the three non-Aryan tribes, Ajas, Śigrus, and Yakshus had united under king Bheda; but these new assailants also met with the same fate and were defeated with great slaughter on the Jumna. The location of these tribes, along with their activities in the period of the *Ṛigveda*, will now be considered in the order of their importance as far as possible.