Tribes in Ancient India c28.16

c28.16

The Ambaṣṭhas seem to have migrated in later times to some place near the Mekala hill which is the source of the Narmadā (see Mekala chapter). In the Kūrmavibhāga of the Bṛhatsaṃhitā (XIV, 7) they are associated with the Mekalas who dwelt on the Mekala hill; and the mention of Mekalāmuṣṭa (which is in all probability a misreading for Mekalāmbaṣṭha) in the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa (LVIII, 14) would seem to prove that the two were neighbouring tribes. The tribe seems to have migrated eastwards as well, however, for even today a class of Kāyasthas known as Ambaṣṭha Kāyasthas can be traced in Bihar; while the Vaidyas of Bengal claim to be designated as Ambaṣṭhas.¹⁰