The History and Culture of the Indian People v1.c19.s2.2

v1.c19.s2.2

The Bharatas, who gave their name to the whole country, are the most important of the Rigvedic tribes. They were settled, in the Rigvedic age, in the region between the Sarasvatī and Yamunā The Bharatas appear prominently in the *Ṛigveda* in relationship with Sudās and the Tṛitsus, and are enemies of the Pūrus. Their princes sacrificed on the Sarasvatī, Drishadvatī, and Āpayā, i.e. Kurukshetra of later times. Their military prowess in the Rigvedic age, displayed in their successful campaigns both against the Aryans on the west and the non-Aryans in the east, is matched by the superiority of their cult and ritual practices which seem to have attained prominence and supremacy in a later period. Viśvāmitra is referred to as a Bharatarshabha and a Kauśika, so that he belonged to the Kuśika family of the Bharatas.