Keśin Dālbhya (or Dārbhya) was a king of
Panchala
Panchala () was an ancient kingdom of northern India, located in the Ganges-Yamuna Doab of the Upper Gangetic plain which is identified as Kanyakubja or region around Kannauj. During Late Vedic times (c. 1100–500 BCE), it was one of the ...
during the Late
Vedic period
The Vedic period, or the Vedic age (), is the period in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age of the history of India when the Vedic literature, including the Vedas (–900 BCE), was composed in the northern Indian subcontinent, between the e ...
, most likely between 900 and 750 BCE.
Historical Mentions
He is mentioned prominently in the
Taittiriya
The ''Taittirīya Shakha'' (Sanskrit, loosely meaning 'Branch or School of the sage Tittiri'), is a ''shakha'' (i.e. 'branch', 'school', or rescension) of the Krishna (black) Yajurveda. The Taittiriyas are themselves divided into numerous sub-s ...
and
Jaiminiya Brahmana
The Brahmanas (; Sanskrit: , International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''Brāhmaṇam'') are Vedas, Vedic śruti works attached to the Samhitas (hymns and mantras) of the Rigveda, Rig, Samaveda, Sama, Yajurveda, Yajur, and Athar ...
s. His maternal uncle was a
Kuru king, reflecting the matrimonial alliance between the two kingdoms.
His reign saw the establishment of the Panchala kingdom as the dominant political and cultural center of northern India, in the aftermath of the decline and defeat of the Kuru Kingdom by the non-Vedic
Salva tribe.
The nephew of the Kuru king Ucchaisravas, son of Kuvaya, who had died heirless, he subsequently took over the leadership and ensured the continuation of the Vedic tradition.
His dynasty remained in power for many generations; one of his later successors was the philosopher-king
Pravahana Jaivali mentioned in the
Upanishads
The Upanishads (; , , ) are late Vedic and post-Vedic Sanskrit texts that "document the transition from the archaic ritualism of the Veda into new religious ideas and institutions" and the emergence of the central religious concepts of Hind ...
.
See also
*
Parikshit
Parīkṣit (, ) was a Kuru king who reigned during the Middle Vedic period (12th–9th centuries BCE). Along with his son and successor, Janamejaya, he played a decisive role in the consolidation of the Kuru state, the arrangement of Vedic ...
*
Janaka
Janaka (, IAST: ''Janaka'') is the King of Videha who ruled from Mithila (region), Mithila, in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. Janaka was married to Sunayana (Ramayana), Sunayana. He is the father of Sita and Urmila in the epic. The term Janaka ...
References
Kings of Pañcāla
{{India-history-stub