Tribes in Ancient India c39.2

c39.2

The Śavaras or Śabaras referred to in both the Great Epics were a non-Aryan tribe. The earliest mention of them is to be found in the *Aitareya Brāhmaṇa* (VII, 18), where it is stated that the elder sons of Viśvāmitra were cursed to become progenitors of such servile races as Andhras, Puṇḍras, Śavaras, Pulindas and Mūtibas.¹ The implication of this passage seems to be that the Śavaras were a non-Aryan people dwelling somewhere in the Dakṣiṇāpatha. The *Matsya* and *Vāyu Purāṇas* definitely locate theni in the south, describing them as Dakṣiṇāpathavāsinaḥ.² The *Mahābhārata* (XII, 207, 42) also places them in the Deccan along with the Andhras and Pulindas:—