Yaduvanshi dynasty
| Yaduvanshi | |
|---|---|
| Parent house | Chandravansha |
| Country | Surasena, |
| Founder | Yadu |
| Current head | Many claims |
| Titles | Raja, Chakravartin |
| Members | Yadu, Kartavirya Arjuna, Krishna, Ahuka, Pradyumna, Samba & many others |
| Estate(s) | Surasena, Haihaya Kingdom, Chedi Kingdom, Vidarbha Kingdom, Vrishni Kingdom |
| Cadet branches | |
Yaduvanshi or House of Yadu was a powerful royal dynasty in the Mahajanapada period who were an offshoot of the Chandravansha dynasty.[1] The dynasty's progenitor was Yadu, eldest son of Emperor Yayati.[2]
Origin
King Yayati was cursed by sage Shukracharya with premature old age due to some reason[3] (see- Yayati). According to a narrative found in the Mahabharata, and the Vishnu Purana, Yadu refused to exchange his years of youth with his father Yayati. So he was cursed by Yayati that none of Yadu's progeny shall possess the dominion under his father's command.[2] Thereby, he could not have carried on the same dynasty, called Somavamshi. Only the dynasty of King Puru, the youngest of the sons of Yayati was entitled to be known as Somavamshi, as Puru had obeyed his father. Thereby King Yadu ordered that the future generations of his would be known as Yadavas and the dynasty would be known as Yaduvanshi.[4]
History
Amongst the Yadava clans mentioned in ancient Indian literature, the Haihayas are believed to have descended from Sahasrajit, elder son of Yadu[5] and all other Yadava clans, which include the Chedis, the Vidarbhas, the Satvatas, the Andhakas, the Kukuras, the Bhojas, the Vrishnis and the Surasenas are believed to have descended from Kroshtu or Kroshta, younger son of Yadu.[6][7]
It can be inferred from the vamshanucharita (genealogy) sections of a number of major Puranas that, the Yadavas spread out over the Aravalli region, Gujarat, the Narmada valley, the northern Deccan and the eastern Ganges valley.[8] The Mahabharata and the Puranas mention that the Yadus or Yadavas, a confederacy comprising numerous clans were the rulers of the Mathura region.[9] The Mahabharata also refers to the exodus of the Yadavas from Mathura to Dvaraka owing to pressure from the Paurava rulers of Magadha, and probably also from the Kurus.[10]
The Yadava fratricidal war
According to the Mausala Parva (7.185-253) of the Mahabharata a few years after the Kurukshetra War, Andhaka-Vrsni Yadava clans of Dvaraka were destroyed due to a fratricidal war.[11] Both Balarama and Krishna died soon after this war. Later, son of Kritavarma became ruler of Mrittikavati and grandson of Yuyudhana became ruler of the territory near the Sarasvati River. The rest of the surviving Yadavas took refuge in Indraprastha. Vajra, great-grandson of Krishna was installed as their king.[12]
Vajra is mentioned as the great-grandson of Krishna in the Vishnu Purana. According to a section of this text (IV.15.34-42), he was the son of Aniruddha and Subhadra.[13] But according or another section (V.32.6-7), he was the son of Aniruddha and Usha, daughter of Bana and granddaughter of Bali.[14] Bahu (or Pratibahu) was his son and Sucharu was his grandson.[13] Elsewhere in this text (V.38.34), he was mentioned as installed as king in Mathura instead of Indraprastha.[15]
See also
References
- ^ Patil, Devendrakumar Rajaram (1946). Cultural History from the Vāyu Purāna Issue 2 of Deccan College dissertation series, Poona Deccan College Post-graduate and Research Institute (India). Motilal Banarsidass Publisher. p. 10. ISBN 9788120820852.
- ^ a b Thapar, Romila (1996) [1978]. Ancient Indian Social History: Some Interpretations (Reprinted ed.). Orient Longman. pp. 268–269. ISBN 81-250-0808-X.
- ^ Prabhupada, Bhaktivedanta Swami (1995). Srimad Bhagavatam - Canto Nine. The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. pp. 551–623. ISBN 978-81-8957491-8.
- ^ Thapar, Romila (1978, reprint 1996). Ancient Indian Social History: Some Interpretations, New Delhi: Orient Longman, ISBN 978-81-250-0808-8, p.223
- ^ Pargiter, F.E. (1972) [1922]. Ancient Indian Historical Tradition, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, p.87.
- ^ Pargiter, F.E. (1972) [1922]. Ancient Indian Historical Tradition, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, pp.102-4.
- ^ Bhandarkar, Ramkrishna Gopal (1987). Vaiṣṇavism, Ṡaivism and Minor Religious Systems. Asian Educational Services. ISBN 978-81-206-0122-2.
- ^ Thapar, Romila (1978, reprint 1996). Ancient Indian Social History: Some Interpretations, New Delhi: Orient Longman, ISBN 978-81-250-0808-8, pp.216-7
- ^ Sircar, D. C. (2008). Studies in the Religious Life of Ancient and Medieval India. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. p. 16. ISBN 978-81-208-2790-5.
- ^ Raychaudhuri, Hemchandra (1972) Political History of Ancient India, Calcutta: University of Calcutta, pp.127-8
- ^ Sullivan, Bruce M (1999). Seer of the Fifth Veda: Kr̥ṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa in the Mahābhārata. Motilal. p. 103. ISBN 9788120816763.
- ^ Pargiter, F.E. (1972) [1922]. Ancient Indian Historical Tradition, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, p.284.
- ^ a b Wilson, Horace Hayman (tr.) (1840). The Vishnu Purana. London: John Murray. p. 440.
- ^ Wilson, Horace Hayman (tr.) (1840). The Vishnu Purana. London: John Murray. p. 591.
- ^ Wilson, Horace Hayman (tr.) (1840). The Vishnu Purana. London: John Murray. p. 615.