Tribes in Ancient India c25.2

c25.2

The Barbaras, a ‘barbarian’ tribe, are associated in the *Mahābhārata*¹ with the Ambaṣṭhas, Paiśācas, Kulindas, etc., and also with the Yaunas, Kāmbojas, Gandhāras and Kirātas, in a passage which definitely states that these tribes were located in the Uttarāpatha or northern country.² The *Matsyapurāṇa* associates them with the Tuṣāras, Pahlavas, Pāradas, Śakas, Urjas, Aurasas and other tribes whose countries are said to have been watered by the Cakṣu stream of the Ganges before it entered the sea (CXXI, 45-51). The *Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa* (LVII, 39) places them in the Sindhu country, and the *Bṛhatsaṃhitā* refers to them as a north or north-west tribe.