Tribes in Ancient India c74.2

c74.2

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).