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Tribes in Ancient India c11: Chapter VII. The Madras

Tribes in Ancient India c11

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Chapter VII. The Madras

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The Madras¹ were an ancient Kṣatriya tribe of Vedic times. They are not mentioned in the early Vedic Saṃhitās, but the Vamśa Brāhmaṇa of the Sāmaveda mentions an ancient Vedic teacher, Madragāra Śauṅgāyani, from whom Aupamanyava, the Kāmbojan, received the Vedic lore (cf. chapter on Kāmbojas). From the name Madragāra, scholars infer that Śauṅgāyani belonged to the Madra tribe,² and the fact that Vedic learning had spread so much among the Madras as to give one of them a prominent place in a list of ancient teachers would seem to show that the Madras belonged to the Vedic Aryandom before the age of the Brāhmaṇas. Their Vedic learning in Brāhmaṇa times is testified to by the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa where we find that sages of N. India, most probably of the Kuru-Pañcāla district, repaired to the Madra country to receive their education in Vedic learning. In the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad (III, 7, 1), Uddālaka Āruṇi tells Yājñavalkya: ‘We dwelt among the Madras in the houses of Patañcala Kāpya, studying the sacrifice’. And again, Bhujyu Lāhāyani says, ‘We wandered about as students, and came to the house of Patañcala Kāpya’ (Bṛh. Up., III, 3, 1).

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¹ Mr. H. C. Ray has contributed a paper to the J.A.S.B. (New Series, Vol. XVIII, 1922, No. 4) on the same subject.

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² Vedic Index, II, p. 123.

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In the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa (VIII, 14, 3), we find the mention of a section of the Madra people, the Uttara or N. Madras who lived beyond the Himālayas (pareṇa Himavantam) in the N. regions close to the Uttara-Kurus. Uttara-Madra is supposed by scholars to have been located in Kashmir.³

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³ Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 102.

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In the Rāmāyaṇa, we read that Sugrīva sent monkeys to the Madrakas and other tribes in quest of Sītā.⁴ In the Viṣṇupurāṇa (2, 3, 17), mention is made of Madra together with Ārāma, Pārasīka, etc. and in the Matsyapurāṇa (114, 41) together with Gāndhāra, Yavana, etc. In the same Purāṇa (208, 5), King Aśvapati of Śākala in the kingdom of the Madras is referred to. Madra (Pāli Madda) is not mentioned in the list of sixteen Mahājanapadas in Buddhist literature. It has been supposed by some that Madra is to be identified with Vāhlika⁵ (see Chapter on Vāhlikas). The Madras held the central portions of the Punjab;¹ they appear in the Epic period to have occupied the district of Sialkot, between the rivers Chenab and Ravi,² or, according to some, between the Jhelum and the Ravi.³ The Madra tribe or kingdom is mentioned in the Bhīṣmaparvan of the Mahābhārata (Chap. IX), in Varāhamihira’s Bṛhatsaṃhitā,⁴ and in Pāṇini’s grammar (II, 3, 73; IV, 4, 67). It is evident from the Allahabad Pillar Inscription that the Madra territory was contiguous with that of the Yaudheyas.⁵

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⁴ Rāmāyaṇa (Griffith's translation), Additional Notes, p. 43.

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⁵ N. L. Dey, Geographical Dictionary, p. 49.

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¹ V. A. Smith, Early History of India (4th Ed.), p. 302.

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² Cambridge History of India, Ancient India, pp. 549-550.

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³ Cunningham, Ancient Geography, p. 185; and see also ibid., pp. 5-6.

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⁴ Kern, Bṛhatsaṃhitā, p. 92.

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⁵ R. C. Majumdar, Corporate Life in Ancient India, p. 272.

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The capital of the Madras was Sāgala (Pāli) or Śākala⁶ (Sanskrit), which has been identified by General Cunningham with Sanglawala-Tiba, to the west of the Ravi (Ancient Geography of India, p. 180). According to Cunningham, Śākala is still known as Madradeśa or the district of the Madras. It lay about 32 N. by 74 E.⁷

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⁶ Mbh., II, 1196; VIII, 2033.

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⁷ Cunningham, Ancient Geography of India, p. 185; Rhys Davids, Buddhist India, p. 39.

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It appears from Hwui-lih that the pilgrim Hsüan Tsang visited Śākala. The old town of Śākala (She-ki-lo), according to the great pilgrim, was about 20 li in circuit. Although its walls had been thrown down, the foundation was still firm and strong, and in the midst of it a town of 6 or 7 li in circuit had been built. There was in Śākala a Saṅghārāma (monastery) with about 100 priests of the Hinayāna school, and N.W. of the Saṅghārāma was a stūpa about 200 feet high, built by Aśoka; while a stone stūpa of about the same height, also built by Aśoka, stood about 10 li to the N.E. of the new capital.⁸

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⁸ Beal, Records of the Western World, Vol. I, pp. 166 et seq.

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The Milinda Pañho gives a splendid description of the Madra capital: ‘There is a great centre of trade called Sāgala, the famous city of yore in the country of the Yonakas. Sāgala is situated in a delightful country, well-watered and hilly, abounding in parks and gardens, groves, lakes and tanks, a paradise of rivers and mountains and woods. Wise architects have laid it out. Brave is its defence, with many strong towers and ramparts, with superb gates and entrance archways, and with the royal citadel in its midst, white-walled and deeply moated. Well laid out are its streets, squares, cross-roads and market places. Its shops are filled with various costly merchandise. It is richly adorned with hundreds of alms-halls of various kinds and splendid with hundreds of thousands of magnificent mansions . . .' The passage goes on to describe the traffic of elephants, horses, carriages and pedestrians; the welcome given to teachers of all creeds, and the rich produce, precious metals, and delicacies which are to be found in the city. It is described as rivalling Uttara-Kuru in wealth and Āḷakamandā, the city of the Gods, in glory (*Milinda Pañho*, pp. 1 and 2, and Trsl. *S.B.E.*, Vol. 35, pt. I, pp. 1–3).

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According to the evidence of the Sanskrit Epics and Pāli Jātakas, the Madras were Kṣatriyas, and they entered into matrimonial alliance with the Kṣatriya dynasties of the Gangetic kingdoms (see the account of the marriage of Pāṇḍu, the Kuru king, and a Madra princess; cf. also *Mbh.*, *Ādiparvan*, Chap. 95 (marriage of Parīkṣit and Mādravatī).

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The Jātakas bear ample testimony to the fact that the Madra princesses were sought in marriage by the great Kṣatriya houses of N. India. Thus we read in the Kusa-Jātaka that a certain king of Madra had seven daughters of great beauty. The eldest of them, Pabhāvatī, was given in marriage to Kusa (or Kuśa), son of King Okkāka, and the kingdoms of Madra and Kusāvatī were thus united by matrimonial alliance.¹

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¹ *Jātaka* (Fausböll), Vol. V, pp. 284 foll.

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The same story of the union of Prince Kuśa of the great Ikṣvāku family with a Madra princess is told in the *Mahāvastu-Avadāna*, with some variations. At Benares, we are told, there was a king named Kuśa belonging to the Ikṣvāku family. His ministers, in quest of a beautiful bride for the king, reached the city of Kānyakubja in the kingdom of Śūrasena where the Madra king Mahendra ruled. Seeing his beautiful daughter, they approached the king who readily consented to give her in marriage to King Kuśa of Benares. But King Kuśa’s appearance was repulsive, and his wife Sudarśanā, discovering the defects in him, left Benares and returned to Kānyakubja. When he discovered his wife’s absence, Kuśa immediately set out in pursuit. Arriving at his father-in-law’s palace, he tried by various means to regain his wife’s favour, but in vain. Finally he disguised himself as a cook and prepared some delicious soup through which he won the king’s favour. In the meantime, seven Kṣatriya kings from neighbouring countries came to win Sudarśanā, but they were refused. Then Kuśa, practically single-handed, drove all the seven kings away, and having saved his father-in-law’s kingdom, returned with his wife to his own country. The Madra king, Mahendra, on the advice of his son-in-law, gave his remaining seven daughters in marriage to the seven kings who had come to attack him, and thereby strengthened his position.¹

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¹ *Mahāvastu*, II, p. 440 *et seq.*

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From the *Kāliṅga-Bodhi Jātaka* we observe that even a prince of the royal house of Kāliṅga in the far east sought the hand of a princess of the Madra country. A daughter was born to the king of Madra in the city of Sāgala. It was foretold that the girl should live as an ascetic but that her son would be universal monarch. The kings of India heard of this prediction and surrounded the city with the object of seeking the princess’s hand. The king of Madra could not give his daughter in marriage to any one of them without incurring the wrath of the others. So he fled to a forest with his wife and daughter. The prince of Kāliṅga, who was also in the forest, happened to meet the Madra princess, and fell in love with her. Learning that she was a Kṣatriya like himself, he obtained her parents’ consent to their marriage, and a matrimonial alliance was thus established between the royal houses of Madra and Kāliṅga.² In the *Chaddanta Jātaka*, we find that the royal houses of Benares and Madra were allied with each other through matrimony³ (see also *Jātaka*, Vol. VI, p. 1). The great Ceylonese chronicle (*Mahāvaṃsa*, 8, 7) records an alliance between a Madra princess and a prince of Eastern India.

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² *Jātaka* (Fausböll), Vol. IV, pp. 228 foll.

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³ *Ibid.*, Vol. V, pp. 37 foll.

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The Madras, according to the *Arthaśāstra* of Kauṭilya (p. 455), were a corporation of warriors, and enjoyed the status of *rājās* (*rājaśabdopajīvinaḥ*). The *Mahābhārata*⁴ tells us that it was a family custom of the Madras to receive a fee from the bridegroom when they gave their daughters in marriage. The marriage proposal was first made by the bridegroom’s party to the bride’s party. When Pāṇḍu, the Kuru prince, won the hand of Kuntī, the daughter of a Bhoja king, in a Svayaṃvara (the ceremony of a woman’s choosing her husband), Bhīṣma wished him to take a second wife as well. Bhīṣma accordingly set out with a retinue and coming to the city of the Madra king named Śalya of the Vāhlika dynasty, asked the king to give his sister in marriage to Pāṇḍu. Śalya told him of the custom of receiving a fee; Bhīṣma consented and having given the Madra king much wealth as fee for the bride, he brought her to Hastināpura, where the marriage ceremony was performed.⁵

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⁴ *Ādiparvan*, Chap. 113.

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⁵ *Ibid.*, see also Chap. 95.

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In the Great Epic, we have further details of Śalya, king of the Madras. On the eve of the Kurukṣetra war, Yudhiṣṭhira sent messengers asking Śalya for his assistance. The king set out with his brave sons and a huge army. When on the march, this army occupied the space of half a yojana. Hearing of the Madra king’s might, Duryodhana decided to seek his alliance, and received him on the way, giving him a great ovation. Śalya was highly pleased with his reception, and offered Duryodhana a boon. Thereupon Duryodhana solicited his help in the ensuing Kurukṣetra war; and King Śalya consented, subsequently asking Yudhiṣṭhira to release him (on certain conditions) from his previous promise. After severe fighting, and many vicissitudes, the Madra soldiers were killed by Arjuna.¹

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¹ Mbh., Udyogaparvan, Chaps. 8 and 19; Droṇaparvan, Chap. 103; Bhīṣmaparvan, Chaps. 51; 105-6; Karṇaparvan, Chaps. 5-6.

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The legend of Sāvitrī and Satyavān, so popular all over India, is connected with the Madra country, for Sāvitrī was the daughter of Aśvapati, king of Madra. This story is too well-known to require repetition here.²

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² Mbh., Vanaparvan, Chaps. 291-8, pp. 509-523, Mahārājā of Burdwan’s Edition.

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As far as authentic history is concerned, we learn that the Madra dominions, including the capital, Śākala, came under the sway of Alexander the Great (326 B.C.) who placed them under the Satrap of the adjacent territory between the Jhelum and the Chenab.³

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³ Cambridge History of India, Ancient India, Vol. I, pp. 549-550.

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In the course of the centuries following the death of the Buddha, the Buddhist religion spread from the N.E. districts of India to the extreme West,—no doubt largely owing to the powerful proselytising zeal of the great Maurya Emperor Aśoka. About 78 A.D., we find Menander (Milinda), a powerful Greek king, ruling at Śākala, and the Pāli ‘Milinda Pañho’ gives a full account of this king’s conversion to Buddhism.⁴ During Menander’s reign, the people knew of no oppression, since all their enemies had been conquered. Even before Menander’s time, Śākala seems to have come under Buddhist influence (see, e.g. Mrs. Rhys Davids’ Psalms of the Sisters, p. 48; Psalms of the Brethren, p. 359).

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⁴ Questions of King Milinda (S.B.E.), Pt. I, p. 6; Rapson, Ancient India, pp. 128-131.

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In the fourth century A.D., the Madras are recorded as having paid taxes to Samudragupta.⁵

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⁵ Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, Vol. III, p. 14; Gupta Inscriptions, Text and Translations.

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At a later date, in the early part of the sixth century A.D., Śākala became the capital of the Hūṇa conqueror, Mihirakula.⁶ From the records of the travels of Hsüan Tsang, the Chinese pilgrim, we read that some centuries before his time there was in the town of Śākala a king named *Mo-hi-lo-kiu-lo* (Mahirakula), who established his authority in that town, and subdued all the neighbouring provinces. This king was of a cruel nature, and, becoming enraged by the conduct of certain Buddhist priests, ordered his men to destroy all the priests ‘through the five Indies’, to overthrow the law of the Buddha and to leave nothing remaining.

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⁶ Cambridge History of India, Vol. I, pp. 549-550.

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Bālāditya, king of Magadha, heard of Mahirakula’s cruel persecutions, and, after strongly guarding the frontiers of his kingdom, refused to pay tribute to him. Hearing that Mahirakula was marching against him, Bālāditya fled, followed by his soldiers, to the islands of the sea. Mahirakula forthwith left his army in the charge of his younger brother, and himself put out to sea to attack Bālāditya, but was captured by the latter’s soldiers. Bālāditya, however, took pity on the captured sovereign and released him. Finding that his kingdom had meanwhile been usurped by his brother, Mahirakula went to Kashmir, where he was received with honour by the king, and given some territory over which to rule. After some years he betrayed his trust, killed the king, and placed himself on the throne. He then plotted against the kingdom of Gāndhāra, killed all the members of the royal family, and the chief minister, destroyed all Buddhist topes and temples, and appropriated the wealth of the country. However, retribution soon followed, for he was dead before the year was out.¹

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¹ *Beal, Records of the Western World*, Vol. I, pp. 165-172; Watters, *On Yuan Chwang*, I, p. 289.

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It appears that the kingdom of Madra was still intact in the ninth century A.D., when we find the Madras as the allies of Dharmapāla, the monarch of Bengal, who with the help of the Madras and other northern powers dethroned Indrarāja, king of Pañcāla.²

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² V. A. Smith, *Early History of India*, 4th Ed., p. 413.

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