Tribes in Ancient India c19.6

c19.6

The *Mahābhāṣya* of Patañjali (second century B.C.) is perhaps the earliest authority that introduces the Ābhīras into Indian history. At I, 2, 3 of that work, the Ābhīras are associated with the Śūdras, who are most likely identical with the Sodrai or Sogdoi of Greek historians of Alexander’s time. The tradition of their association with the Śūdras ³ is upheld not only by the above-mentioned śloka of the *Mahābhārata* (IX, 37, 1), but also by the Purāṇas. The *Viṣṇupurāṇa* ⁴ places them in the extreme west along with the Surāṣṭras, Śūdras, Arbudas, Kārūṣas, and Mālavas, dwelling along the Pāripātra mountains. The *Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa* (Chap. 57, verses 35, 36) groups the Ābhīras with the Vāhlikas, Vāṭadhānas, Śūdras, Madrakas, Surāṣṭras, and Sindhu-Sauvīras, all of whom are said to have occupied tracts of country that are included in the Aparāntaka or western country. According to Pargiter, the Ābhīras who are referred to in the *Mahābhārata* had something to do with the events following the great Kurukṣetra war: ‘Some years after the battle, the Yādavas of Gujarat were ruined by fratricidal strife, and Kṛṣṇa died. Under Arjuna’s leadership they abandoned Dvārakā (on which the sea encroached) and Gujarat and retreated northwards, but were attacked and broken up by the rude Ābhīras of Rajputana’.¹