Tribes in Ancient India c33.6

c33.6

Vaśa is mentioned as the name of a people in the *Aitareya Brāhmaṇa*⁴ which says, ‘. . .Therefore, in this firm middle established quarter (Dhruva-madhyamā), whatever kings there are of the Kuru-Pañcālas with the Vaśas and Uśīnaras, they are anointed for kingship. . .’ Here we observe that the Vaśas are spoken of as one of the Vedic tribes living in the *Dhruva-madhyamā* dik or the Madhya-deśa of Manu, along with the Kurus, Pañcālas and Uśīnaras. Their connection with this tribe appears also to be proved by the *Gopatha Brāhmaṇa* (I, 2, 9) where Oldenberg reads *Sa-vaśa-Uśīnareṣu* instead of *Śavasa* in the printed edition. In the *Kauśitaki Upaniṣad*, too,⁵ we have mention of the Vaśas together with the Uśīnaras, Matsyas, Kurus and Pañcālas. The Pāli *Aṅguttara Nikāya* mentions the land of the Vamśas (identified by Oldenberg with the Vaśas) as one of the sixteen *Mahājanapadas*, along with the Cedis, Kurus, Pañcālas, Matsyas, Śūrasenas, etc., who appear to have been their close neighbours. The *Janavasabha-Suttanta* associates the Vamśas rather with the Cedis than with the Uśīnaras, and mentions the powerful ruling peoples of the time in such groups as Kāśi-Kośala, Vajji-Mallā, Cedi-Vamśa, Kuru-Pañcālā and Maccha-Sūrasenā.