Tribes in Ancient India c11.7

c11.7

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