Tribes in Ancient India c7.9

c7.9

It is, however, in the Brāhmaṇa literature that the Kurus acquire the greatest prominence among the Kṣatriya tribes of ancient India. In the Brāhmaṇa literature, the Kurus are often connected with the Pañcālas and from the way in which the Kuru-Pañcālas are mentioned, there is no room for doubt that it was in the country inhabited by them that some of the most famous Brāhmaṇa works were composed. Thus the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa in its chapter on the Mahābhiṣeka of Indra states: ‘Then in this firm middle established quarter the Sādhyas and the Āptyas, the gods, anointed him (i.e. Indra) . . . for kingship. Therefore in this firm middle established quarter, whatever kings there are of the Kuru-Pañcālas with the Vaśas and Uśīnaras, . they are anointed for kingship’ (Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, VIII, 14, Tr. Keith, Ṛgveda Brāhmaṇas, p. 331). From the way in which mention is made of the country of the Kuru-Pañcālas, it is evident that the author of the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa was a native of that region. The authors of the Vedic Index ² are of the opinion that the great Brāhmaṇas were composed in the Kuru-Pañcāla country, though Weber ³ would suggest a different locality for the Tāṇḍya Mahābrāhmaṇa of the Sāmaveda, and the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa of the White Yajurveda.