Tribes in Ancient India c56.4

c56.4

The distinction between Suhma and Vaṅga (and Puṇḍra) is supported by the Epic and Pauranic tradition, which distinguishes Suhma, one of the eponymous ‘Bāleya Kṣatras’, from his brothers Aṅga, Vaṅga, Kaliṅga and Puṇḍra.² In the *Sabhāparvan* (Chap. 30, 16) of the *Mahābhārata*, the Pāṇḍavas are described as having subdued the Puṇḍras and Vaṅgas, and led their victorious army to Suhma. In Kālidāsa’s *Raghuvaṃśa* also, Suhma is distinguished from the sea coast and the country of the Vaṅgas (Canto IV, 35-6). According to the *Pavanadūta* of Dhoyīka, the Suhma country seems to have been situated on the Ganges (verse 27). In Rājaśekhara’s *Kāvyamīmāṃsā*, the Suhma country along with Brahma to the north, Vaṅga and Puṇḍra, was included in a list of the *Janapadas* of the east. In the *Bṛhatsaṃhitā* it is located between Vaṅga and Kaliṅga.