Tribes in Ancient India c75.2

c75.2

The Daśārṇas are mentioned in the Epics and Purāṇas, and also in Kālidāsa’s *Meghadūta*. They appear to have had more than one settlement during the Epic period. The *Mahābhārata* seems to refer to two Daśārṇas, one in the west, which was conquered by Nakula (*Sabhāparvan*, Chap. 32), and another in the east (or south-east), which was subjugated by Bhīmasena (*Sabhāparvan*, Chap. 30). The *Rāmāyaṇa* and the Purāṇas point to a Daśārṇa country grouped with those of the Mālavas, Kārūṣas, Utkalas and Mekalas, who are all said to have lived in the Vindhyan tract.¹ This Daśārṇa is probably the same as the one conquered by Bhīmasena.