Tribes in Ancient India c68: Chapter LXVI. The Audumbaras
Tribes in Ancient India c68
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Chapter LXVI. The Audumbaras
c68.2
The Audumbaras seem to have been a minor oligarchical or republican tribe. They are mentioned in the *Sabhāparvan* of the *Mahābhārata* (II, 1869), where they are located in the Madhyadeśa (midland district). The *Harivaṃśa* refers to certain ascetics, descendants of Viśvāmitra, as Audumbaras, but it is difficult to determine their exact relation with the tribe of the *Sabhāparvan*.
c68.3
The Purāṇas¹ mention a people called the Udumbaras, along with the Kāpiṅgalas, Kuruvāhyas and Gajāhvayas. The last-named people were connected with Hastināpura, the Kuru capital, and the Kuruvāhyas must also have had some connection with the famous Kuru people. It is, therefore, reasonable to assume that the Udumbaras (presumably identical with the Audumbaras) occupied a district contiguous with, or not far from, the Kuru country. Both Lassen (Ind. Art. map) and Cunningham (*Arch. Surv. Rep.*, XIV, 115 and 135) seem to locate the Udumbaras somewhere in Cutch.
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¹ See, e.g. *Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa*, LVIII, 9.
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The *Harivaṃśa*² mentions a river Udumbaravatī in the south, while the *Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa*³ refers to a city named Udumbarapura in the Magadhajanapada.
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² CLXVIII, 9511.
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³ Gaṇapati Śāstrī's Ed., p. 633. ‘*Māgadhaṃ janapadaṃ prāpya pure Udumbarāhvaye*’.
c68.8
The Audumbaras are also known from coins which come chiefly from the Kangra District of the Punjab, and which belong to about the eighteenth century A.D.⁴
c68.9
⁴ Smith, *Cat. of Coins*, pp. 160-1.
Linked texts (4)
- Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa — Sanskrit
- Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Mahābhārata — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Harivaṃśa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit