Everything about Madra totally explained
» For other uses, see Madras (disambiguation).
Madra or
Madraka is the name of an ancient region and its inhabitants, located in the north-west division of the ancient
Indian
sub-continent.
Uttaramadra division
Aitareya Brahmana makes first reference to the Madras as Uttaramadras i.e northern Madras and locates them in the trans-
Himalayan region as neighbors to the
Uttara Kurus. The Uttara Madras, like the
Uttara Kurus, are stated to follow the
republican constitution. The
Uttara Madra country of Aitareya Brahmana is often identified with Bahlika (
Bactria).
Madra divisions
As the name
Uttara Madras itself shows, there was yet another Madra group also, which obviously was living to the south of the Uttara Madras (northern Madras). These southern Madras were an offshoot from the Uttaramadras, a bulk of whom, probably under
nomadic pressure from north, migrated southwards and settled in
Punjab
The post-
Vedic, pre-
Buddhist Brahmanical literature is overflowing with the names of
tribes. The most powerful among them, commanding the greatest respect, in the Madhyadesha (Middle country) was the Kuru-Panchala which incorporated the two families of
Kuru and
Puru (and the earlier
Bharatas) and of which the Panchalas was a confederation of lesser-known tribes. They occupied the Upper Doab and the
Kurukshetra region. In the Prachya or east, the
clans of
Kasi,
Kosala and
Magadha predominated. In the north-west or
Uttarapatha division, the
Kamboja,
Gandhara, and the Madra clans were the most important.
Panini's Madras
Panini documents the Madra
janapada as a part of modern
Punjab country with
capital at Sakala or
Sagala, modern
Sialkot. Panini mentions two divisions of the Madras in Panjab or Vahika country for example the Purva (
Eastern) Madras and the Apara (
Western) Madras. The Purva-Madra extended from the
Ravi to
Chenab and the Apara-Madra from Chenab to the
Jhelum. Thus, it appears probable that the Madras of Panjab had cultural interaction with Bahlika (Bactria) country, the land of the
Uttara Madras. Some verses in the Mahabharata allude to this connection of the Madras with the Uttara Madras.
Madra was Bahika country
Madra was a part of the Bahika or Vahika country. Some hold that Madra was Vahika country. They held the central parts of Punjab — the region lying between river
Chenab and
Ravi. In epic period, they occupied the district of Sialkot. Panini doesn't offer derivation of Bahika but
Katyayana derives it from
Bahis 'outer edge' with the suffix
ikak. This agrees with
Mahabharata description of Bahika as the country of five rivers but was where
Dharma was weak (
dharma-bahya), devoid of religion (
nashta-dharma) and impure (
aśuchi).
Karna Parva of Mahabharata derives name Bahika from the names of two Pishachas or
demons named
Bahi and
Hika (
Bahi + hika = Bahika) living in river Vipasa (
Beas). The Bahikas or Vahikas i.e the people of Punjab are the offspring of those two Pishacas. They are not creatures created by Prajapati.
Variants of Madra
Variants of Madra are also found as
Madrak, Madraka, Bhadra, Bhadraka. It has been pointed out that Bhadras were located on
Ghaggar near north-eastern border of
Bikaner.
Mahabharata references
The Mahabharata refers to a king Vyusitashva of the
Puru family whose wife Bhadra bore seven sons--, four Madras and three Salvas. This tradition indicates that Salvas and Madras belonged to common stock and there were seven branches of one tribe. But
Kasika and
Vaijayanti refer to only six branches of the Salvas (and Madras) viz., Udumbras, Tilakhala, Bhulinga, Sardanda, Yugandhara and Madrakara. The above list apparently doesn't include all the branches of the Salvas and the Madras. Though there's no ancient reference to four branches of the Madras, Dr M. R. Singh has however suggested them to have been as
Uttamabhadra, Sravanabhadra, Prabhadra and the Bhadra or Madra themselves. (
Variants of Madra are also found as Bhadra, Madraka, Bhadraka and that Bhadraka and Madraka are transferable).
Prabhadraka as an
attribute has been used for the
Parama-Kambojas section who had sided with the
Pandavas in the
Kurukshetra war against the
Kauravas.
The
Uttamabhadras lived in
Punjab, the
Bhadrakas in modern Bhadra and
Sravanabhadras are believed to have migrated from Kanyuakubja and settled in Malwa. Uttamabhadras originally were people of Balkh who had entered India in
Vedic times. In Vedic times, they were closely related to
Kurus and the
Purus. In
Kurukshetra war, we also find Madras associated with the Kurus. King
Shalya had taken part in the
Mahabharata war, on behalf of the Kauravas.
Madri, the wife of
Pandu king of
Hastinapur and the mother of
Pandava-putras
Nakula and
Sahadeva, was a Madra
princess daughter of the king of
Madra. Madri has also been referred to as Bahliki i.e princess of Bahlika janapada/tribe and king Salya has been referred to as Bahlika-pungava i.e foremost among the
Bahlikas. Madri has also been referred to as Bahliki i.e princess of Bahlika janapada/tribe and king Salya has been referred to as Bahlika-pungava i.e foremost among the
Bahlikas. Epic also refers to king Ashvapati of Madra, the beloved of the Paura Janapadas, who was father of Savitri. King Vyusitashva was a descendent of Puru a famous king of Rigvedic times.
These references obviously connect the Vahika Madras to Bahlika i.e
Bactria Madras i.e the Vedic Uttara-Madras or Uttamabhadras, which is known to have been the earliest settlement of the Madra people. It is also seen from the above references that initially Mahabharata had really high opinion of the Madras. But later, this view was changed since there are several later
epic references where the Madras have been severely downgraded. Every possible ill word has been spoken against them.
In
Karna Parva of Mahabharata,
Karna specifically directs his wrath against
Shalya who was from Madra, and ridicules the region he was from. Karna calls the Madra men and women as "scum" of humanity.
See link (External Link
).
Adi Parava of
Mahabharata says that Madra princes had attended Draupadi's self-choice (Swayamvara) ceremony along with the other princes of neighbouring kingdoms from
northwest. Thus prince Shalya, the king of
Madra Kingdom, with his son, the heroic Rukmangada, Rukmaratha, Somadatta (king of Bahlika Kingdom) of the
Kuru race with his three sons - Bhuri, Bhurisrava, and Sala and
Sudakshina Kamboja the arch-bowman (
dridhadhanva) of the
Puru race had particiapated in the Draupidi swayamvara
See Ganguli's Trans:
(External Link).
Karna had fought with and vanquished the
Madrakas,
Kekayas,
Kambojas,
Avantis,
Gandharas, Matsyas, Trigartas, Tanganas,
Sakas,
Panchalas, Videhas, Kulindas,
Kasi,
Kosalas, Suhma,
Anga,
Vanga, Nishada,
Kalinga Taralas,
Asmakas,
Rishikas, Mlechchas and forest dwellers etc.
Madra king
Shalya, came with an Akshouhini of
troops to join the army of
Pandavas, since youngest Pandavas, the twins
Nakula and
Sahadeva, were his nephews. It is stated that his troops marched slowly on every day from Madra (
Punjab province of Pakistan) to
Upaplavya (somewhare in the boarder of
Rajasthan and
Hariyana), the
Matsya city, where the
Pandavas were camped. When his army reached Kurujangala (the kingdom of the Pandavas, the modern-day
Hariyana),
Duryodhana's men shrewedly intercepted the army. Without revealing their identity, they received Shalya and his men, made tents for them and refreshed them with all the comforts. By the time the truth surfaced,
Shalya had already become indebted to battle for
Duryodhana's sake. Madra army had battled along with other armies of north-west including the
Trigartas, the
Kekeyas, the
Gandharas,
the Kambojas, the Yavanas, the Shakas, Tusharas, Khasas and Daradas (all these latter six armies had fought under General Sudakshina Kamboja), the
Sindhus, the
Sauviras, the Amvasthas etc. King Shalya was the last Generalismo of the
Kaurava army and was slain by
Yudhisthira on the last day of the
Kurukshetra war.
Srimad Bhagavatam and the Madras
Bhagvatam Purana attests that the prince of Madra along with princes from
Matsya, Usinara,
Kosala, Vidharbha,
Kuru, Srnjaya,
Kamboja,
Kekaya, Kunti, Anarta,
Kerala was present at
Samanta-pancaka at the occasion of the solar eclipse.
(External Link)
Valmiki Ramayana on the Madras
Kishkindha Kanda of
Valmiki Ramayana says that
Sugriva had sent his persons to search
Sita in various lands of the
Uttarapatha including the Madras. Thus, Sugriva directs his detectives to search Sita in the countries of the Mlecchas, the Pulindas, the
Shurashenas, the Prasthalas, the Bharatas, the
Kurus, the
Madrakas, the
Kambojas, the
Yavanas along with the countries of the
Shakas and the
Paradas and also the
Himalayas.
Kautilya Arthashasta on the Madras
Fourth century BCE
Arthashastra of
Kautiliya refers to the Madras as following republican constitution. It refers to Licchivika, Vrjika,
Mallaka,
Madraka, Kukura,
Kuru, and
Panchala etc and labels them as
Raja-shabd-opajivin class (i.e living by the title of Raja) while referring to the
Kshatriya Shrenis (
warrior-bands) of the
Kambojas and
Surashtras it styles them as
varta-shastr-opajivin class (for example living by the profession of arms and varta).
(External Link).
Madras in Puranic literature
Vishnu Purana mentions the Madra along with Arama,
Parasika and others. In
Matsya Purana, the Madras find mention with
Gandharas,
Yavanas and others. In the same Purana, a reference is also made to king Asvapati of
Sakala in the country of Madra.
Matrimonial customs of the Madras
Mahabharata attests that it was a custom among the Madras to give their daughters in marriage on taking a fee (shulka). This was their family custom.
Pandu, the
Kuru prince had also to pay fee for marrying Madri, the princess from Madra.
Madra princesses were favored
The beauty of Madra women, like those others from the
northwest including the
Kamboja,
Uttarakuru was proverbial. Buddhist literature calls Madra-Desha as the store-house of beautiful ladies (
maddaratham nama itthagaro) . The Madra women are characterized as "white" in the
Mahabharata (VIII) .
Buddhist Jatakas bear ample tesimony that Madra princesses were sought after in marriage by the great
Kshatriya houses of northern and western India.
Sumangala-Vilasini attests that the wife of a Chakravarti comes either from
Uttarakuru or from Madda (Madra) and
Uttaramadra. Bhadra, wife of Kalpana of Pippali Manavaka was a beautiful maiden from Madra. Pabhavati, a beautiful
princess of Madra was married to prince Kusa, son of Okkaka, of
Ikshvaku royal family of
Benares. Even a prince of royal house of
Kalinga in the far east sought the hand of a princess of Madra country as is attested by
Kalinga Bodhi Jataka.
Chandata Jataka also attests that the royal houses of Madra and
Benares were allied with each other through matrimony. According to
Mahavamsa, on the death of Sihabahu of Sinhapura (
Lala Rattha = Lata Rashtra = Latadesa = Gujarat), his son Summita became king of Lata. He married a Madra princess by whom he'd three sons. Khema, one of the three
queens of
Bimbisara (reign 544-491 BCE), the ruler of the
Magadha from the
Haryanka dynasty was also a princess from the Madra
clan. And of course, princess Madri, daughter of king
Shalya of Madra was also married to
Pandu, the
Kuru prince of
Hastinapur.
Uttaramadra-Uttarakuru-Parama Kamboja connections
Vamsa Brahamana of the
Sama Veda refers to one
Rsi Madragara Shaungayani as the teacher of
Aupamanyava Kamboja. As the name itself suggests, and as the scholars have rightly stated, Rsi Madragara Shaungayani belonged to Madra tribe . Dr Keith and Dr Macdonnel, the authors of Vedic Index, as also Dr H Zimmer and numerous other scholars postulate a possible connection between the Madras for example the
Uttaramadras and the
Trans-Hindukush Kambojas . Dr Jain also observes:
"Kamboja Aupamanyava, pupil of Madragara, is mentioned in the Vamsa Brahmana. This points to a possible relationship of the Madras or more probably of the Uttaramasdras with the Kambojas, who probably had Indian as well as Iranian affinities" . Since both these people were a very close neighbors in the north-western part of ancient India, such connections were but natural. According to Dr Jean Przylusky, the Bahlika (
Balkh) was a settlement of the Madras who were known as
Bahlika-Uttaramadras..
In his
Harsha-Carita,
Sanskrit scholar
Bana Bhatta, the court poet of king
Harsha Vardhana of
Thanesar makes reference to the horses from Kamboja. And the Commentator on Harsha-Carita in his commentary reveals to us that
KAMBOJAH BAHLIKA DESAJAH, i.e the Kambojas belonged to/originated from
Bahlika-desa (
Bactria in north
Afghanistan) . Furthermore,
The Yasastilaka, a
Jaina work, one of the best known champus in Sanskrit, composed by Somadeva Suri (959 A. D.) too identifies ancient Kamboja with Bahlika-desa . This ancient evidence indicates that Bahlika (
Bactria) (the land of Madras i.e the Uttaramadras) or its eastern parts may have formed parts of ancient
Kamboja, and that both these people were a close neighbors and possibly of an allied stock. According to Nanimadhab Chaudhuri, the Kambojas who were settled to the north-west of the
Indus were connected with the Madras and they were probably a branch of the Uttaramadras .
Atharvaveda-Parisita also juxtaposes the Kambojas with the Bahlikas (i.e ..
Madras..) .
Mahabharata also closely allies the
Bahlikas and the Kambojas and further places them in alliance with
Transoxiana Sakas .
Valmiki Ramayana also mentions the Kamboja and the Bahlika in the same breath.
Aitareya Brahmana refers to the nations of
Uttarapatha (
northwest) and mentions the
Uttaramadras and
Uttarakurus as the tribes following a
vairajiya (kingless) constitution. The same text also tells us that these nations lay beyond the
Himalaya (i.e
Parena himavantam) where
Himalaya here's said to refer to
Pamirs/
Hindukush ranges . It has been pointed out that the list of the northwestern nations referred to in the Aitreya Brahmana is illustrative only and, by no means, exhaustive since it doesn't mention other clans of the Trans-Himalayans like the Kambojas (for example
Parama Kambojas)/
Rishikas etc who also had followed kingless (
republican) constitution and also were located beyond Himalayan .
It is also possible that the Kambojas may have been considered a part of the Uttaramadras/or the Uttarakurus and therefore, not mentioned separately in the Aitareya Brahmana list.
The foregoing discussion suggests that in the remote antiquity (
Vedic age), a settlement of the Madras was located in Bahlika (
Bactria)--the western parts of the
Oxus country. These Madras were, in fact, the Uttaramadras of the
Aitareya Brahmana (VIII/14). This also indicates that there was a very close affinity between the Uttaramadras, Uttarakurus and the Parama Kambojas--- all lying beyond the Himavantan i.e beyond Pamirs/Hindukush ranges. However, in 4th c BC, this Bahlika/Bactria came under
Yavana/
Greek political control and thus the land started to be referenced as
Bahlika-Yavana in some of ancient
Sanskrit texts .
Origin of Madras: traditional accounts
According to another traditional account preserved in the
Puranas and
Mahabharata etc, king Yayati, the great grandson of
Prurvasa Aila had five sons viz.:
Yadu, Turvasa, Anu, Druhyu and Puru. Pruravasa Aila was, in turn, the grandson of
Vaivasta Manu, the
mythological ancestor of all royal families of the Indian traditions. The
Lunar line of
Kshatriya families of Indian traditions are believed to have originated from this
Pruravasa Aila.
These Puranic accounts indicate that the Madras,
Usinaras and
Kekayas were the direct descendants of Yayati's son
Anu (External Link).
Other scholars maintain that the Madras and other
clans like
Angas,
Kalingas,
Sauviras,
Kambojas,
Sindhus and the
Gandharas were offshoots of the Anu
tribe of the
Rigveda (External Link).
Researchers like Dr J. L. Kamboj, on the other hand, infer that the Kambojas, Gandharas and some other tribes of
northwest (including the Madras) may have descended from the Druhyu
tribe of the
Rigveda.
Broadly speaking, these ancient traditions indicate that Anu was the author of Anu clan (Anavas), Yadu of the Yadava clan, Turvasa of the
Yavana and Turushaka clans,
Puru of the
Paurava/
Kaurava clans and Druhyu of the clans like the
Gandharas and other frontier clans of the north-west like
Kambojas, Madras etc.
However,
it is very difficult to speak with confidence about these traditional accounts.
Maukharis descent from the Madras?
The
Maukhari dynasty which ruled in the 5th century CE in the neighborhood of Gaya (
Bihar) claims their descent from king Asvapati of
Sakala of Madra country of central
Punjab in northwest India. Their name is also referred to by
Panini in his
Ashtadhyayi. There is a seal belonging to Maukhari family of the
Mauryan period. An inscription dated 239 CE found in
Kotah state refers to a military General from Maukhari family. There are four inscriptions engraved on stone
yupas which show indicates there were many Maukhari families in Rajasthan in 3rd century CE. It is therefore possible that the Maukharis were a
clan of the Madras; and like the
Kambojas, they may also have been migrating and widely spreading over northern India.
Madras pay taxes to the Guptas
The Madras and several other
republics of northern and north-western India including the Arjunayans, Sivis, Malavas, Kunindas, Kulutas, Audumbras,
Kambojas,
Yaudheyas etc were vanquished, subjugated or else destroyed by the Gupta rulers (4th century CE). There is evidence of Madras paying taxes to Gupta king
Samudragupta, as we learn from the fact that latter's imperious commands were fully gratified by the Madras and others giving all kinds of taxes and obeying his orders and coming to perform obeisance.
Madra and the Pala dynasty of Bengal
It appears that the kingdom of Madra continued till the 9th century when we find the Madras as the allies of
Dharmapala (770-810) of the
Pala Dynasty of Bengal who, with the connivance of the Madras and other northern powers, had dethroned Indraraja of
Kanauja and placed Chakrayudha on the throne. It is also held by some that
Dharmapala had seized the lands of
Bhoja,
Matsya, Madra,
Kuru,
Yadu,
Yavana,
Avanti,
Gandhara, and Kira. It is interesting to note that there's no mention of the
Kambojas in the above list of the north-west kingdoms, but it seems that the term Gandhara itself included the Kamboja as well. This is because little later, king
Devapala (810—850), son of Dharmapala, had an encounter with the
Hunas in north and then with the Kambojas in the north-west as is amply attested by the
Monghyr Charter of Devapala..
Benjamin Walker writes:
"Like their neighbours the Kambojas, the Madra people also migrated through the Gangetic plain towards Bengal, and we find them in the ninth century as allies of the Pala kings of Bengal (Vol I, p 59)..
Madras vs Medes
Many scholars also identify the
Medes (
Madai) as a branch of the Madra tribes, while some identify Media (Medes) with Uttaramadra referenced in the Aitreya Brahamana . Similarly, the Persian Achamenedae are also believed to be an offshoot from the Scythianised Kuru-Kamboja hordes, who outpoured from Kambysene of ancient Armenia .
Madras at present
Madras at present are found in
Madrak,
Madrayana or
Maderna gotra Jats in western
Rajasthan in
India.
Parasram Maderna is a famous political leader from
Marwar region. People belonging to
Bhati gotra associate themselves with both
Ghazni and
Sialkot and for this reason the Bhati gotra is accepted as a branch of
Madrak.
Further Information
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