Tribes in Ancient India c10.29

c10.29

In the *Mahābhārata*, we find the Cedis allied in a group with such western tribes as the Pañcālas, Matsyas and Karūṣas, and also with peoples who lived in the east, such as the Kāśīs and Kośalas. We read of the Cedi-Kārūṣakāḥ bhūmipālāḥ, or rulers of the Cedis and Kārūṣakas, who espoused the cause of the Pāṇḍavas.¹⁰ Elsewhere the Cedi-Pañcāla-Kaikeyas are grouped together.¹¹ Again, we are told that Dhṛṣṭaketu was the leader of the Cedi-Kāśī-Karūṣa peoples¹²; and we find the group Cedi-Kāśī-Karūṣa fighting together.¹³ Sometimes the Cedis are grouped together with the Kārūṣas and the Matsyas ¹; or with the Kārūṣas, Matsyas, and Pañcālas ²; or with the Kārūṣas and Kośalas.³ These examples could be further multiplied; but we can gather from those already quoted that the Cedis are found combined with the Matsyas in the majority of cases, and it seems that the Matsyas were their immediate neighbours on the west, and the Kāśīs on the east.