Tribes in Ancient India c33.15

c33.15

The Mahābhārata contains certain items of traditional information regarding the Vatsa-bhūmi or land of the Vatsas. In one passage,⁵ we are told that, prior to the Rājasūya sacrifice performed by Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīmasena led an expedition towards the east and conquered the Vatsa-bhūmi; while in the Vanaparvan,⁶ it is stated that Vatsa was conquered by Karṇa. Elsewhere⁷ we read that the Haihayas of the Cedi country seized the capital of the Vatsas after killing Haryaśva who must have been a king of Vatsa. In the Bhīṣmaparvan,⁸ it is said that in the Kurukṣetra war, the Vatsa army took the side of the Pāṇḍavas. Nakula and Sahadeva along with the Vatsas and others guarded the left side of the Pāṇḍava army.