Tribes in Ancient India c12.3

c12.3

The earliest definite mention of the Mālavas is made in the writings of Alexander’s historians who refer to them as Malloi, Malli or Mallai, associated with the Oxydrakai, Sudracae, Hydrakai or Sydracae. These two tribes have long been identified with the Mālavas and Kṣudrakas of Sanskrit literature.¹ Pāṇini does not actually mention them by name, but his sūtra V, 3, 117, speaks of certain tribes as ‘āyudhajīvī saṃghas’, or tribes living by the profession of arms, and the Kāśika says that amongst these Saṃghas were the Mālavas and Kṣudrakas. The Mālava tribe is actually mentioned in the Mahābhāṣya of Patañjali (IV, 1, 68).²