Мадра: Древнее царство в Индии и его история.

Kingdom in ancient India

the ancient tribe

Madra Kingdom (; ) was a kingdom grouped among the western kingdoms in the epic Mahabharata. Its capital was Sagala in Madra region, modern Sialkot in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The Kuru king Pandu's (Pāṇḍu) second wife was from Madra kingdom and was called Madri (; ; IPA/Sanskrit: ). The Pandava twins, Nakula and Sahadeva, were her sons. Madri's brother Shalya was the king of Madra. Though affectionate to the Pandavas, he was tricked to give support to Duryodhana and fought against the Pandavas during the Kurukshetra War. He was killed by Yudhishthira, the eldest Pandava. Other than the Madra kingdom (Eastern Madra or Purva Madra) with Sagala as its capital, it is believed that there was a Western Madra (Apara Madra) and a Northern Madra (Uttara Madra).

According to the Vayu Purana, the Madra Kingdom was founded by King Ushinara Shibi of the Anu race. Anu was the son of Yayati. According to Bhagavata Purana, The kingdom of Madra was founded by Madra who was the son of Anu King Shibi in Treta Yuga.

Bahlika people were considered as "outsiders" of the Vedic culture, as being a foreign tribe of Bharatvarsha. The name Bahlika is also used to denote a kingdom different from Madra, Sindhu, Kekeya, Gandhāra & Kamboja. The Kuru king Shantanu, a forefather of Kauravas and Pandavas, had a brother who ruled the Bahlika Kingdom.

Bahlika or western countries were cold countries and people used blankets. They also reared sheep and drank sheep milk. They had good knowledge of camels. They had horses of excellent quality. Their horses and even horsemen were used in the wars between kings of Aryavarta (North Indian kingdoms where Vedic culture of the norm, prevailed). Their soldiers used to aid both the parties engaged in a battle on a payment basis. Probably this was the reason why Shalya, the Madra king, has to side with Duryodhana in the Kurukshetra War, since he was tricked to accept the payment for siding with Duryodhana. Another collective name denoting the western kingdoms is Arashtra or Aratta, meaning a kingless country. This raises the doubt, whether these countries were a republic ruled by elected chiefs, if we take the positive sense of the word. In a negative sense the word Arashtra can mean a kingdom with no control or with utter disorder.

Aswapati was the son of Madra (the founder of Madra Kingdom) and grandson of King Shibi was the father of Savitri the famous princess of Madra, who became the lover (and later, wife) of the famous Salwa prince Satyavan. Aswapati's wife was from a minor tribe known as Malava. She was known as Malavi (3,291). The sons of Aswapati and Malavi, later became the powerful Malava kings. They spread their kingdom as far as Avanti (Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh). Thus the royal line of Malavas originated from the Madra (Punjab province of Pakistan) king Aswapati (3,297).

Shalya was the most famous king from Madra. He became the generalissimo of the Kaurava army on the last day of the Kurukshetra War. He was the oldest spear fighter battled in Kurukshetra War. Bhima had defeated Shalya in mace fight without knowing each other during the self choice ceremony of Draupadi (1,192). He was slain by Pandava king Yudhishthira during the last day (18th day) of Kurukshetra War. Shalya was rated by Bhishma as an Athiratha( a great chariot warrior) (5,166). Shalya was also skilled in knowledge of steeds and in driving the chariot on the battlefield (8,31). For this reason, Shalya was forced to be the charioteer of Karna for one day during the war. Shalya had two sons named Rukmangada and Rukmaratha (1,188). Rukmaratha was mentioned as participating in the war. Similarly, many brothers of Shalya also participated in the war. His younger brother was slain by Abhimanyu (8,5). He is also called as Mukappan. There were other Madra kings like Dyutimat mentioned at (1,95) as the father in law of Pandava Sahadeva.

Madra king Shalya, came with an Akshouhini of troops to join the army of Pandavas, since his nephews viz the twins Nakula and Sahadeva were none other than the youngest Pandavas. His troops marched slowly on every day from Madra (Punjab province of Pakistan) to Upaplavya (somewhere on the border of Rajasthan and Haryana), the Matsya city, where the Pandavas were camped. When his army reached Kurujangala (the kingdom of the Pandavas, the modern day Haryana), Duryodhana's men intercepted the army. They, without revealing their identity, received Shalya and his men, made tents for them and refreshed them with all comforts. The Madra soldiers also received payment from Duryodhana's officers for taking part in the Kurukshetra War. Shalya became indebted to battle for the sake of Duryodhana, by the time he learned the truth. (5,8). The main antagonist of Shalya in bow fight was, king Yudhishthira (5,57). Both of them engaged many times in battle. (6 45 etc.). He also made many battles with Nakula and Sahadeva. He defeated many like Virata and Drupada. Shalya became the driver of Karna's chariot on the 17th day (8,36). On the last day Yudhishthira slew his uncle Shalya, who was then the generalissimo of the Kaurava army (9,17). Madra army battled along with other western armies like the Trigartas, the Kekeyas, the Gandharas, the Yavanas, the Sindhus, the Sauviras, the Amvasthas etc. (6 51 etc.). On the day when Shalya was forced to become the driver of Karna's chariot, a dispute arose between them (8 40,44). The passages that describe this dispute give light to the cultural differences that existed between these warriors. (See Bahlika Culture for more details).

During the time of the Gupta Empire, the Indian emperor Samudragupta (ruled 350 375 CE) recorded Madraka as a "frontier kingdom" which paid an annual tribute. This was recorded by Samudragupta's Allahabad Pillar inscription, which states the following in lines 22–23. "Samudragupta, whose formidable rule was propitiated with the payment of all tributes, execution of orders and visits (to his court) for obeisance by such frontier rulers as those of Samataṭa, Ḍavāka, Kāmarūpa, Nēpāla, and Kartṛipura, and, by the Mālavas, Ārjunāyanas, Yaudhēyas, Mādrakas, Ābhīras, Prārjunas, Sanakānīkas, Kākas, Kharaparikas and other nations"|Lines 22–23 of the Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudragupta (r. c.350 375 CE).