Tribes in Ancient India c14.2

c14.2

The Uśīnaras were an ancient, petty tribe dwelling to the north of the Kuru country.¹ The *Gopatha Brāhmaṇa* (II, 9) tells us that the Uśīnaras and Vasas (Vatsas) were regarded as northerners. In the *Ṛgveda* (X, 59, 10) the tribe is alluded to in a passage which refers to their queen Uśīnarāṇī. Pāṇini, the grammarian, also refers to the Uśīnara country.² The *Aitareya Brāhmaṇa* contains a geographical passage (VIII, 14) which assigns the Kurus and Pañcālas, together with the Vasas and Uśīnaras, to the Middle Country, the later Madhyadeśa. In the *Kauśītakī Upaniṣad* (IV, 1) too, the Uśīnaras are associated with the Kuru-Pañcālas and the Vasas.