Brāhmaṇa (tribe)
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Brāhmaṇa ( ) was an ancient Indo-Aryan
tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...
of north-eastern
South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...
whose existence is attested during the
Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
.


Location

The territory of the Brāhmaṇas was located near
Magadha Magadha was a region and kingdom in ancient India, based in the eastern Ganges Plain. It was one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas during the Second Urbanization period. The region was ruled by several dynasties, which overshadowed, conquered, and ...
, and their neighbours were the Buli tribe of Allakappa. The capital city of the Brāhmaṇas was named in Pali alternatively Veṭhadīpa (Viṣṇudvīpa in Sanskrit) or Doṇagāma (Droṇagāma in Sanskrit).


History

After the
Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...
's death, the Brāhmaṇas of Veṭhadīpa-Doṇagāma were given a share of his relics.


Political and social organisation

Little is known about the Brāhmaṇas of Veṭhadīpa-Doṇagāma other than that they belonged to the .


References


Sources

* Ancient peoples of India Ancient peoples of Nepal {{India-hist-stub