Tribes in Ancient India c28.2

c28.2

The Ambaṣṭhas ¹ as a tribe existed at least as early as the time of the *Aitareya Brāhmaṇa*, when they were probably settled in the Punjab; and they can be traced up to the present day in parts of Bengal and Bihar, whither they migrated in later times. In the *Aitareya Brāhmaṇa* (VIII, 21-3), King Ambaṣṭhya (= ‘of Ambaṣṭha’) is mentioned as having been consecrated with the Aindra Mahābhiṣeka along with nine other kings. The *Mahābhārata* ² mentions the Ambaṣṭhas along with the Śivis, Kṣudrakas, Mālavas and other north-western tribes. In the *Bhīṣma* (Chap. 20, 10) and *Droṇa* (Chap. 119, 14) *Parvans*, the Ambaṣṭhas are referred to as having taken part in the Kurukṣetra war, on the side of the Kurus; while in the *Karṇaparvan*,³ Śrutāyuḥ, the valiant Kṣatriya, who was killed by Arjuna, is described as a king of the Ambaṣṭhas. The Ambaṣṭhas were also once defeated by Nakula, the fourth Pāṇḍava, along with the Śivis, Trigarttas and Mālavas ⁴; and Śrutāyuḥ was among those who did homage to Yudhiṣṭhira after the defeat.⁵