Tribes in Ancient India c74: Chapter LXXII. The Mekalas
Tribes in Ancient India c74
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Chapter LXXII. The Mekalas
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The Mekalas were a small tribe inhabiting the tract of country comprising the modern Amarkaṇṭak (Amara-kaṇṭaka) hills and the surrounding region. In ancient times, the Amarkaṇṭak range was known as Mekala, whence the name of the tribe is derived; and as the river Narmadā (mod. Narbadā) has its source in these hills, she was known as Mekalasutā¹ or Mekalakanyā,² i.e. ‘daughter of Mekala’, or Mekalā.³ The Mekala mountain (mod. Amarkaṇṭak) is a part of the Vindhyas; and in the Purāṇas, the Mekalas are referred to as a Vindhyan tribe. This is also supported by the Vāmanapurāṇa (Chap. 13)⁴ which locates the Mekalas along with the Kārūṣas, Bhojas, Daśārṇas, Niṣadhas and others, just below the Vindhyan range. The identification of the locality is confirmed by mythological allusions as well; for Mekala is said to have been a Ṛṣi, the father of the river Narmadā,—a mythological interpretation of the well-known geographical fact. The mountain where the river rises is also known as Mekalādri (Haimakośa, IV, 149). According to the Bengal recension of the Rāmāyaṇa, Mount Mekala is referred to as the source of the river Son (Kiṣkindhyā Kāṇḍa, XI, 20).
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¹ S. Konow, Karpūramañjarī, p. 182.
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² Amara-kośa, I, 2, 3, 32, etc.
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³ Abhidhānaratnamālā, III, 52.
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⁴ Among the tribes mentioned in this list are the Kośalas who were definitely not located anywhere near the Vindhyas, but in the N.E. Accordingly, this list is not to be taken as accurate.
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According to the Epic tradition as contained in the Droṇaparvan (IV, 8) of the Mahābhārata, Karṇa is said to have conquered the Mekalas along with the Utkalas, Pauṇḍras, Kaliṅgas, Andhras, Niṣadas, Trigarttas and Vāhlīkas. In the Rāmāyaṇa also, the Mekala country is associated with the Utkala and Daśārṇa countries. The army of monkeys which was despatched in search of Sītā was asked to visit Mekala, Utkala, and Daśārṇa, among other countries of the south (Canto XLII).
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The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa probably associates the Mekalas with the Ambaṣṭhas (LVIII, 14): the reference is to Mekalāmuṣṭa, which appears to be a corruption of Mekala and Ambaṣṭha. If this is the case, it doubtless refers to the time when the Ambaṣṭhas or a section of them had migrated from their original habitat in the Punjab to south-eastern India, near the Mekala hill in the upper regions of the Narmadā.
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There is another reference to Mekala in the Viṣṇupurāṇa (IV, Chap. 24, 17), where ten kings are said to have had Mekala as their land of birth.
Linked texts (8)
- Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Mahābhārata — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Viṣṇupurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Vāmanapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Tibetan translation ('Chi med mdzod) — Classical Tibetan
- Vālmīkirāmāyaṇa — Vālmīki, Sanskrit
- Abhidhānaratnamālā — Halāyudha (lexicographer), Sanskrit
- Karpūramañjarī — Rājaśekhara, Śaurasenī Prakrit