Tribes in Ancient India c60.16

c60.16

As regards the Kālāmas of Kesaputta, our information is very meagre. There is a bare mention of them in the Nikāyas, but no doubt they existed at the time of the Buddha as a distinct tribe or clan. Their home was probably in a mountain fastness, not far from the upper Gangetic valley. The etymology of the name ‘Kesaputta’ indicates that the tribe traced its descent from the Keśins, a tribe connected with the Pañcālas.³