Tribes in Ancient India c70.2

c70.2

The Matsyas appear to have been one of the prominent Kṣatriya tribes that made up the Vedic Aryan people in the earliest period of their residence in India. We read in a hymn of the *Ṛgveda* (VII, 18, 6) that the Matsyas were attacked by Turvaśa, a famous king, in order to extract from them the wealth which he required for the performance of a sacrifice. We observe that the Matsyas were regarded as a wealthy people, their riches most probably consisting of cows which were much in demand for the performance of lengthy and elaborate sacrifices. It is well known that in Epic times the Matsyas were very rich in this wealth of cows, for which the Trigarttas and the Kurus led predatory expeditions against them. In the Rigvedic passage referred to above, the word ‘Matsya’ in the text has been taken by some scholars to mean ‘fish’ (its original meaning). Sāyaṇa gives both meanings, and the authors of the *Vedic Index* (Vol. II, p. 121) also think both possible. From the context, however, Matsya clearly refers to the people. There is, moreover, no doubt that cattle made up the wealth here intended, for the verse following the one in question states clearly that Indra recovered the cows (*gavyā*) from the Tritsu plunderers (just as Indra’s son, Arjuna, recovered the cattle plundered by the Kurus as described in the *Mahābhārata*). Further, other tribes of Western India, e.g. the Druhyus and the Bhṛgus, are mentioned in the verse (VII, 18, 7) side by side with the Matsyas. So it is evident that the latter is here also a tribal name.