Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c9.s3.110

c9.s3.110

Purū-ravas Aila, the first king in the above list, is represented in epic tales as the son of a ruler who migrated from Bāhli in Central Asia to Mid-India.¹⁷ It may be noted in this connection that the *Papañcha-sūdani* refers to the Kurus—the most important branch of the Ailas according to the *Mahābhārata* and the *Purāṇas*—as colonists from the trans-Himālayan region known as Uttara Kuru.¹ Bharata, another king mentioned in the epic list is described as a lineal descendant of Purū-ravas and of Pūru. But this is doubtful. He is, as we have seen, definitely associated in Brāhmanic and epic *gāthās* with the land on the Sarasvatī, the Ganges and the Jumna, and is credited with victory over the Satvats. The epic tradition that he was the progenitor of the Kuru royal family is in agreement with the Vedic evidence which connects him and his clansmen, Devaśravas and Deva-vāta, with the same territory which afterwards became famous as the land of the Kurus. Uchchaiśravas Kaupayeya had matrimonial relations with the royal family of the Pañchālas. But Balhika Prātipīya could ill conceal his jealousy of the ruler of the Sṛiñjayas, a people closely associated with the Pañchālas in epic tales. The word Balhika in the name Balhika Prātipīya seems to be a personal designation and there is no clear evidence that it is in any way connected with the Balhika tribe mentioned in the *Atharva Veda* and later texts. It may, however, point to the northern origin of the Kurus² of the "Middle country," a theory rendered probable by the association of the Kurus with the Mahāvṛishas³ and the fact that a section of the Kuru people dwelt beyond the Himālayas in the days of the *Aitareya Brāhmaṇa* and the *Mahābhārata*. The history of the Kuru royal line becomes more definite from the time of Saṁtanu who was fifth in the ascending line from Parikshit. Regarding the events of Parikshit’s reign we have little reliable information. We only know that the drought that threatened the Kuru realm in the time of Saṁtanu had passed away and the people “throve merrily in the kingdom of Parikshit.”