{{about, the kingdom of Pahlava in Indian epic literature, the historical kingdom, Indo-Parthian Kingdom The Pahlava Kingdom is identified to be a kingdom of an

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

tribe. The kingdom was well known, even during the campaign of

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

. It was also mentioned in the epic

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the K ...

References in Mahabharata

Yudhishthira's Rajasuya

''Pahlava king is listed as present in the conclave of kings present in

Pandava The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, IAST: Pāṇḍava) refers to the five legendary brothers— Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva—who are the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. They are acknowledge ...

king

Yudhishthira ''Yudhishthira'' ( Sanskrit: युधिष्ठिर, IAST: ''Yudhiṣṭhira'') is the eldest among the five Pandava brothers. He is mentioned in the ancient epic Mahabharata. He was sired by King Pandu of the Kuru Dynasty and his fir ...

Rajasuya Rajasuya () is a Śrauta ritual of the Vedic religion. It is ceremony that marks a consecration of a king. According to the Puranas, it refers to a great sacrifice performed by a Chakravarti - universal monarch, in which the tributary princes ma ...

sacrifice.'' The Vangas and Angas and Paundras and Odras and

Cholas The Chola dynasty was a Tamil thalassocratic empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd century BCE d ...

and Dravidas and Andhakas, and the chiefs of many islands and countries on the seaboard as also of frontier states, including the rulers of the Sinhalas, the barbarous mlecchas, the natives of

Lanka Lanka (, ) is the name given in Hindu epics to the island fortress capital of the legendary asura king Ravana in the epics of the ''Ramayana'' and the ''Mahabharata''. The fortress was situated on a plateau between three mountain peaks known ...

, and all the kings of the West by hundreds, and all the chiefs of the sea-coast, and the kings of the Pahlavas and the

Daradas Daradas were a people who lived north and north-west to the Kashmir valley. This kingdom is identified to be the Gilgit region, in the Gilgit-Baltistan region (part of ancient Baloristan) along the river Sindhu or Indus. They are often spoken alo ...

and the various tribes of the

Kiratas The Kirāta ( sa, किरात) is a generic term in Sanskrit literature for people who had territory in the mountains, particularly in the Himalayas and Northeast India and who are believed to have been Sino-Tibetan in origin. The meaning o ...

and

Yavanas The word Yona in Pali and the Prakrits, and the analogue Yavana in Sanskrit and Yavanar in Tamil, were words used in Ancient India to designate Greek speakers. "Yona" and "Yavana" are transliterations of the Greek word for " Ionians" ( grc, ...

and Sakras and the Harahunas and

Chinas The Chinas, Cīna, or Chīnaḥ (Sanskrit चीनः (''cīna'')) are a people mentioned in ancient Indian literature from the first millennium BC and first millennium AD, such as the ''Mahabharata'', ''Laws of Manu'', and the Puranic literatu ...

and

Tukharas Bactria (; Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient region in Central Asia in Amu Darya's middle stream, stretching north of the Hindu Kush, west of the Pamirs and south of the Gissar range, covering the northern part of Afghanistan, sou ...

and the Sindhavas and the Jagudas and the Ramathas and the Mundas and the inhabitants of the kingdom of women and the Tanganas and the Kekayas and the

Malavas The Malavas (Brahmi script: 𑀫𑁆𑀫𑀸𑀭𑀯 ''Mmālava'') or Malwas were an ancient Indian tribe. Modern scholars identify them with the Mallian people (Malloi) who were settled in the Punjab region at the time of Alexander's invasion ...

and the inhabitants of Kasmira performed various offices at the palace of

during the

sacrifice. (3:51).

Drupada's list

Drupada Drupada (Sanskrit: द्रुपद, lit. ''firm-footed'' or ''pillar''), also known as Yajnasena (Sanskrit: यज्ञसेन, lit. ''he whose army is sacrificial''), is a character in the Mahābhārata. The son of King Prishata, he was ...

(the father-in-law of the

Pandavas The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, IAST: Pāṇḍava) refers to the five legendary brothers— Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva—who are the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. They are acknowledge ...

) lists the powerful kings of the time, who could be summoned to the cause of the

, in their battle (

Kurukshetra War The Kurukshetra War ( sa, कुरुक्षेत्र युद्ध ), also called the Mahabharata War, is a war described in the ''Mahabharata ( sa, महाभारत )''. The conflict arose from a dynastic succession struggle be ...

)against the

Kauravas ''Kaurava'' is a Sanskrit term which refers to descendants of Kuru, a legendary king of India who is the ancestor of many of the characters of the epic ''Mahabharata''. Usually, the term is used for the 100 sons of King Dhritarashtra and his w ...

:-'' Quickly send word to

Shalya In the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata'', King Shalya ( sa, शल्य, lit. ''pointed weapon'') was the brother of Madri (mother of Nakula and Sahadeva), and the ruler of the Madra kingdom. Skilled with the mace and a formidable warrior, he was tri ...

(of

Madra Madra (Sanskrit: ) was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe of north-western South Asia whose existence is attested since the Vedic period. The members of the Madra tribe were called the Madrakas. Location The Madras were divided into -Madra ("northe ...

), and to the kings under him, and to king

Bhagadatta Bhagadatta ( sa, भगदत्त) was the son of Narakasura, and the king of Pragjyotisha. Bhagadatta was born from a limb of the asura called Bāṣkala. He was a renowned warrior, and was known to be a great friend of Indra. When Arjuna emba ...

of immeasurable valour residing on the eastern sea-coast (

Pragjyotisha Kamarupa (; also called Pragjyotisha or Pragjyotisha-Kamarupa), an early state during the Classical period on the Indian subcontinent, was (along with Davaka) the first historical kingdom of Assam. Though Kamarupa prevailed from 350 to 1 ...

), and to fierce Hardikya, and Ahuka, and the king of the Mallas of powerful understanding, and Rochamana. Let Vrihanta be summoned and king Senavindu, and Vahlika and Mudjakesa and the ruler of the Chedis, and Suparsva, Suvahu; and that great hero, Paurava; and also the kings of the

Sakas The Saka (Old Persian: ; Kharoṣṭhī: ; Ancient Egyptian: , ; , old , mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit ( Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples who histor ...

, the Pahlavas, and the

, and Surari, and Nadija, and king Karnavest, and Nila, and the valiant king Viradharman; and Durjaya, and

Dantavakra Dantavakra ( sa, दन्तवक्र, lit=crooked-teeth) is the king of Karusha in Hinduism. Dantavakra is the third and last birth of Vishnu's gatekeeper, Vijaya, while his brother Jaya is Shishupala. Legend Puranas According to the P ...

, and

Rukmi Rukmi ( sa, रुक्मी) is the ruler of Vidarbha according to the epic Mahabharata. He was the son of King Bhishmaka and the elder brother of Rukmini. The Harivamsa mentions that Rukmi was trained in the arts of warfare by the Kimpurush ...

, and Janamejaya; and Ashada and Vayuvega, and king Purvapali; and Bhuritejas, and Devaka, and Ekalaya with his sons; and also the kings of the

Karusha The Karusha Kingdom is one of the Yadava kingdoms of the Mahabharata epic. It is placed to the south of Chedi. Karusha king Dantavakra supported Chedi king Shishupala and was killed by Vasudeva Krishna. Karusha Kingdom is identified as modern D ...

race, and the valiant Kshemamurti, and the kings of the Kamboja and the Richika tribes, and of the western sea-coast; and Jayatsena and the king of

Kashi Kashi or Kaashi may refer to: Places * Varanasi (historically known as "Kashi"), a holy city in India ** Kingdom of Kashi, an ancient kingdom in the same place, one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas ** Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Varanasi * Kashgar, a c ...

, and the rulers of the land of the five rivers, and the proud son of Kratha, and the rulers of the mountain regions, and Janaki, and Susarman and Maniman, and Potimatsyaka, and the valiant

Dhrishtaketu Chedi ( sa, चेदी) was a kingdom which fell roughly in the Bundelkhand division of Madhya Pradesh regions to the south of river Yamuna along the river Ken. Its capital city was called Suktimati in Sanskrit. According to the Mahabhar ...

, and the ruler of the kingdom of Pansu; and Paundra, and Dandadhara, and the brave Vrihatsena; and Aparajita, and Nishada and Srenimat and Vasumat; and Vrihadvala of great strength, and Vahu the conqueror of hostile cities; and the warlike king Samudrasena with his son; and Uddhava, and Kshemaka and king Vatadhana; and Srutayus, and Dridhayus, and the gallant son of

Salwa Salwa, an Arabic name meaning "solace", may refer to: People *Princess Salwa Aga Khan (born 1988), American model, wife of Prince Rahim Aga Khan * Sally ("Salwa") Shatila Kader, Lebanese-American peace activist *Salwa Abdullah (born 1953), Syrian ...

; and the king of the

Kalinga Kalinga may refer to: Geography, linguistics and/or ethnology * Kalinga (historical region), a historical region of India ** Kalinga (Mahabharata), an apocryphal kingdom mentioned in classical Indian literature ** Kalinga script, an ancient writin ...

s, and Kumara, unconquerable in battle. Speedily send word to these (5:4).

In Kurukshetra War

''Pahlavas sided with the

in the

'' Saradwat’s son

Kripa Kripa ( sa, कृप, Kṛpa, pity), also known as Kripacharya ( sa, कृपाचार्य, Kṛpācārya, Kripa the master), is a figure in Hindu mythology. According to the epic ''Mahabharata'', he was a council member of Kuru Kingdom ...

, that fighter in the van, that high-souled and mighty bowman, called also Gautama, conversant with all modes of warfare, accompanied by the

, the

, and the Pahlavas, took up his position at the northern point of the army (6:20).

References

Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa Krishna Dvaipayana ( sa, कृष्णद्वैपायन, Kṛṣṇadvaipāyana), better known as Vyasa (; sa, व्यासः, Vyāsaḥ, compiler) or Vedavyasa (वेदव्यासः, ''Veda-vyāsaḥ'', "the one who cl ...

, translated to English by Kisari Mohan Ganguli Kingdoms in the Mahabharata

References in Mahabharata

Yudhishthira's Rajasuya

Drupada's list

In Kurukshetra War

See also

References