Raja of Kuru | |
---|---|
Details | |
Style | His Majesty |
First monarch | Vidhuratha I (as the successor to the Puru king) |
Last monarch | Kṣemaka |
Formation | c. 1200 BCE |
Abolition | 350 BCE |
Residence | |
Appointer | Sabhā[1] |
Kuru was an ancient Indian kingdom.[2] The kingdom was emerged as a branch of Rigvedic Puru tribe and lasted until Nandas of Magadha dethroned them in 350s BCE.[3] Kuru kingdom is famous for Mahabharata[4] and Kurukshetra War.[5] Its capital was Hastinapura and Indraprastha.[6]
Kuru Kingdom was split into three parts: Kuru proper (which itself also spilt into Vatsa kingdom) "Kurujangala" and "Uttarakuru". Kuru proper was in the middle region of Ganga-Yammuna Doab, Kurujangala was in western part and Uttarakuru was in eastern region.[7]
King Kuru II of Puru dynasty after whom the dynasty was named 'Kuruvansha' or 'Kaurava'. After his name, the district in Haryana was called as Kurukshetra.[8] By the glory, zenith and name of this king the dynasty hence renamed from Paurava Kingdom to Kuru Kingdom.[9] After these Kings several kings of this dynasty established several kingdoms. He had three sons, namely Vidhuratha I who became the ruler of Pratisthana, Vyushitaswa who died at a very young age, and Sudhanva, who became the ruler of Magadha. Henceforth, Vidhuratha became the first kuru king of Hastinapura.[10]
This shows the line of royal and family succession, not necessarily the parentage. See the notes below for detail.
|
Key to Symbols
Notes
The birth order of siblings is correctly shown in the family tree (from left to right), except for Vyasa and Bhishma whose birth order is not described, and Vichitravirya and Chitrangada who were born after them. The fact that Ambika and Ambalika are sisters is not shown in the family tree. The birth of Duryodhana took place after the birth of Karna, Yudhishthira and Bhima, but before the birth of the remaining Pandava brothers.
Some siblings of the characters shown here have been left out for clarity; this includes Vidura, half-brother to Dhritarashtra and Pandu.
Pandavas means sons of King Pandu. Pandavas were five in number as: Yudhishtira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. The first three of five Pandavas were the sons of Kunti and Pandu while the younger two were born to Madri after Pandu's request.[11]