Ancient Indian Historical Tradition c29.200

c29.200

The Paurava claimant then was Duṣyanta, for the Paurava realm had been overthrown since Māndhātṛ’s time, and Duṣyanta had been adopted as heir by Marutta of Turvasu’s line, but after Sagara’s death he re-established the Paurava dynasty (pp. 108, 156). His son by Śakuntalā was the famous and pious Bharata.⁷ Their territory however appears to have been shifted to the northern portion of the Ganges-Jumna doab, for Pratiṣṭhāna is no longer mentioned and its district was included in the Vatsa realm. Some passages make Hastināpura¹ the capital of Duṣyanta and Bharata,² and say Bharata’s territory stretched from the R. Sarasvatī to the Ganges,³ and that is no doubt right, because he was a great monarch with a wide sway (pp. 39–41); but their fifth successor Hastin is distinctly stated to have founded that city.⁴ If those passages are right, Hastin may have enlarged it and given it his name. Bharata’s successors were the Bharatas or Bhāratas (p. 113), and how his line was continued has been explained above (pp. 159–61).