Ahichatra (alias Ahi-Kshetra) was the capital of Northern Panchala, a kingdom mentioned in Mahabharata. It is identified to be the Ramnagar town of Uttarakhand state of India. Ruins of this city could be identified from the remote sensing imagery of IRS (Indian Remote Sensing) satellites. The ruins reveals that the city had a triangular shape. The city was alive up to end of Kurukshetra war. Panchala Kingdom extended from Himalayas in the north to river Charmanuati in the south. ... Mahabharat redirects here. ... Ramnagar may refer to: Ramnagar, Agartala Ramnagar, Madhya Pradesh Ramnagar, Uttaranchal Ramnagar, Uttar Pradesh Ramnagar, West Bengal Category: ... Uttarakhand presently called Uttaranchal is the ancient name for the stretch of Indian Himalayas that borders the Himachal ranges in the west, and Nepal in the east. ... Combatants Pandavas led by Dhristadyumna Kauravas led by Bhishma Commanders Arjuna Bhima Yudhishthira Nakula Sahadeva Bhishma Drona Karna Duryodhana Ashwatthama Strength 7 Akshauhinis 1,530,900 soldiers 11 Akshauhinis 2,405,700 soldiers Casualties Almost Total Only 7 survivors - the five Pandavas, Krishna, and Satyaki Almost Total Only 3 survivors...

The territory under Ahichatra was formerly under the Panchala king Drupada. Later it was taken over by Drona, after a war, in which Drupada was defeated by Drona's desciple Arjuna. Ashwatthama, the son of Drona, was given the responsibility of ruling the territory of Northern Panchala from Ahichatra. Ashwatthama probably ruled the kingdom being subordinate to the rulers of Hastinapura. Drupada, also known as Yajnasena, is a character in the Mahabharata. ... In the epic Mahabharata, Drona (Sanskrit: द्रोण, droNa) or Dronacharya (द्रोणाचार्य, droNāchārya) is the royal guru to the Kauravas and the Pandavas. ... Krishna to Arjuna: Behold My mystic opulence! Arjuna (Sanskrit: अर्जुन, arjuna) is one of the heroes of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. ... In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Ashwatthama (Sanskrit: अश्वत्थाम, ashvatthāma) or Ashwatthaman (Sanskrit: अश्वत्थमन, ashvatthamana) was the son of guru Dronacharya. ... In the epic Mahabharata, Drona (Sanskrit: द्रोण, droNa) or Dronacharya (द्रोणाचार्य, droNāchārya) is the royal guru to the Kauravas and the Pandavas. ... In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Hastinapura is the capital and the kingdom of the Kauravas, the descendants of Kuru, which include the Pandavas. ...

The word Ahi means snake or Naga in Sanskrit. Nagas were a group of ancient people who worshiped serpents. The word khsetra means region in Sanskrit. This implies that Ahi-kshetra was a region of Nagas. This could mean that the region was populated originally by Nagas. The Sanskrit language ( , for short ) is an old Indo-Aryan language from the Indian Subcontinent, the classical literary language of the Hindus of India[1], a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. ...

See also

• Panchala Kingdom
• Kingdoms of Ancient India