Daradas were a people who lived north and north-east to the Kashmir valley. This kingdom is identified to be the Gilgit region in Kashmir along the river Sindhu or Indus. They are often spoken along with the Kambojas. The Pandava hero Arjuna had visited this country of Daradas during his northern military campaign to collect triubute for Yudhisthira's Rajasuya sacrifice. Shown in green is the Kashmiri region under Pakistani control. ... Gilgit is a region in the Northern Areas of Pakistan, bordering the Chinese region of Xinjiang. ... Shown in green is the Kashmiri region under Pakistani control. ... The Indus (सिन्‍धु नदी) (known as Sindhu in ancient times) is the principal river of Pakistan. ... The Indus is a river; the Indus River. ... Kambojas are a very ancient people of north-western parts of ancient India and Afghanistan , frequently mentioned in ancient texts, although not in the Rig Veda. ... In the Mahabharata, the Pandava are the five acknowledged sons of Pandu, by his two wives Kunti and Madri. ... Krishna to Arjuna: Behold My mystic opulence! Artwork © courtesy of The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust Arjuna (Sanskrit: अर्जुन, arjuna) is one of the heroes of the epic Hindu Mahabharata. ... In the great Hindu epic Mahabharata, Yudhisthira (Sanskrit: युधिष्ठिर, yudhishthira) was the eldest son of King Pandu and Queen Kunti, king of Hastinapura and Indraprastha, and World Emperor. ... Rajasuya was a sacrifice performed by the ancient kings of India. ...

Location of Daradas

• The Vayu Purana, Brahmanda Purana and Vamana Purana mention the Daradas with the Kambojas, Chinas, Tusharas and the Bahlikas etc. The Bhuvankosha of the Puranas locates the Daradas, Kambojas, Barbaras, Bahlikas, Lampakas etc in the Uttarapatha division of ancient India. e.g:

ete desha udichyastu

Kambojah Daradashchaiva Barbarashcha Angalaukikah ||

Chinashchaiva Tusharashcha Pahlavadhayata narah | ^[1]

• Puranas also refer to river Sindhu as watering the lands of Daradas, Gandharas and the Aurasas (Ursas).

• Brhatsamhita groups the Daradas with the Abhisaras and the Tanganas.

• Mahabharata also mentions the Daradas as neighbors to the Kambojas and Bahlikas ^[2].

• Mahabharata locates the country of Daradas in the Himavata-Pradesa.

• Ptolemy refers to the Daradas as living below the sources of the Indus River.

• Herodotus refers to the Daradas as Dadicae and gropus them with the Gandharas and the Aparytae (Afridis?). Herodotus and Strabo also connect the Daradas with the gold producing area located in the west of Tibet. There is an evidence that the Daradas, in ancient times, had their colonies located in Baltistan and Leh also.

All the above references locate the Daradas in Uttarapatha as neighbors to Kambojas of Kashmir-Kafirstan. The Vayu Purana is a Shaiva Purana, dedicated to Vayu (the wind), containing some 24,000 shlokas. ... Vamana Purana, one of the major eighteen Puranas, a Hindu religious text, is devoted to the Vamana avatar of Vishnu. ... Kambojas are a very ancient people of north-western parts of ancient India and Afghanistan , frequently mentioned in ancient texts, although not in the Rig Veda. ... Ancient Buddhist and Brahmanical texts reveal that Uttarapatha was the name of northern division of Jambudvipa of ancient Indian traditions. ... The Indus (सिन्‍धु नदी) (known as Sindhu in ancient times) is the principal river of Pakistan. ... Gandhāra (also Ghandara, Ghandahra, Chandahara, and Persian Gandara) is the name of an ancient Mahajanapada in eastern Afghanistan and the north-western province of Pakistan. ... The Mahabharata (Devanagari: महाभारत, phonetically Mahābhārata - see note), is one of the three major ancient Sanskrit epics of India, the others being the Ramayana and the Bhagavatam. ... Kambojas are a very ancient people of north-western parts of ancient India and Afghanistan , frequently mentioned in ancient texts, although not in the Rig Veda. ... Bactria (Bactriana, also Bhalika in Indian languages) was the ancient Greek name of the country between the range of the Hindu Kush (Caucasus Indicus) and the Amu Darya (Oxus); its capital, Bactra (now Balkh), was located in what is now northern Afghanistan, southern Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. ... Claudius Ptolemaeus (Greek: ; c. ... The Indus River in Northern Areas of Pakistan, near the rock Aornus. ... Bust of Herodotus at Naples Herodotus of Halicarnassus (Greek: , Herodotos) was a historian who lived in the 5th century BC (484 BC-ca. ... Gandhāra (also Ghandara, Ghandahra, Chandahara, and Persian Gandara) is the name of an ancient Mahajanapada in eastern Afghanistan and the north-western province of Pakistan. ... The Afridi are a Pashtun tribe. ... the Greek georgapher Strabo, in a 16th‑century engraving. ... Tibet (older spelling Thibet; Tibetan: བོད་, Bod, pronounced pö in Lhasa dialect; Chinese: 西藏, Pinyin: XÄ«zàng or Chinese: 藏区, Pinyin: ZàngqÅ« [the two names are used with different connotations; see Name section below]) is a region in Central Asia and the home of the Tibetan people. ... Baltistan (Urdu: بلتستان) , also known as Baltiyul in Balti, is a region to the north of Kashmir, bordering the Chinese region of Xinjiang. ... View of Leh from Namgyal hill Leh Bazaar prior to 1871 Leh is the capital of the former Himalayan kingdom of Ladakh, which is now a district in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, India. ... Shown in green is the Kashmiri region under Pakistani control. ... The term Kafirs in reference to the Hindukush Kafirs is usually taken to mean infidels or idolators and the term Kafirstan as The Land of the Infidels. ...

Degraded Kshatriyas

Mahabharata reference

Mahabharata also notifies that the Daradas, Sakas, Kambojas, Yavanas etc were originally Kshatriyas but were slowly sank to the status of vrishalah or degraded Kshatriyas due to the wrath of the Brahmanas. Saka is also the name of a town in Hiroshima, Japan; for information on this town, see Saka, Hiroshima. ... Kambojas are a very ancient people of north-western parts of ancient India and Afghanistan , frequently mentioned in ancient texts, although not in the Rig Veda. ... Yona, Yonaka or Yavana is a Pali word used in ancient India to designate Greeks. ... Kshatriya is the title of the military order within the Hindu varna system. ...

Manusmriti reference

According to Manusmriti ^[3] also, the Daradas like the Sakas, Kambojas, Yavanas, Pahlavas, Paradas etc became Mlechchas since they had ignored the Brahmanas and did not perform sacred Brahmanical codes. The Manu Smriti or Laws of Manu, is one of the eighteen Smritis of the Dharma Sastra (or laws of righteous conduct), written c. ... Saka is also the name of a town in Hiroshima, Japan; for information on this town, see Saka, Hiroshima. ... Kambojas are a very ancient people of north-western parts of ancient India and Afghanistan , frequently mentioned in ancient texts, although not in the Rig Veda. ... ... ... The Paradas are a people mentionned in ancient Indian writings from the beginning of our era, such as the Manu Smriti. ... The Brahmana (Sanskrit ब्राह्मण) are part of the Hindu Shruti; They are composed in Vedic Sanskrit, and the period of their composition is sometimes referred to as the Brahmanic period or age (approximately between 900 BC and 500 BC). ...

Fight with Arjuna

Sabha Parva of Mahabharata attests that Arjuna had led a digvijaya expedition against the Kashmiras, Ursas, Abhisaras, Sinhapuras, Suhmas, Daradas, Kambojas, Bahlikas, Lohas, Rishikas and Parama Kambojas etc. ^[4]. The Mahabharata (Devanagari: महाभारत, phonetically Mahābhārata - see note), is one of the three major ancient Sanskrit epics of India, the others being the Ramayana and the Bhagavatam. ... Krishna to Arjuna: Behold My mystic opulence! Artwork © courtesy of The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust Arjuna (Sanskrit: अर्जुन, arjuna) is one of the heroes of the epic Hindu Mahabharata. ...

Fight with Krishna

Drona Parva of Mahabvharata attests that Krishna had vanquished the Daradas along with Anga, Vanga, Magadha, Kasi, Kosala, Vatsa, Garga, Karusha, Pundra, Avanti, Daserka, Kashmira, Urssa, Madugalas, Kambojas, Pisachas, Cholas, Malavas, Sakas, Yavanas etc ^[5]. Krishna (कृष्ण in Devanagari, IAST ) is according to various Hindu traditions the eighth or the ninth avatar of Vishnu. ... Earliest reference to Angas occurs in Atharava Veda (V.22. ... Genera Calicalicus Schetba Vanga Falculea Artamella Leptopterus Cyanolanius Oriolia Euryceros Tylas Hypositta Xenopirostris The vangas are a group of little-known small to medium sized passerine birds restricted to Madagascar. ... Magadha was an ancient kingdom of India, mentioned in both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. ... Benares (also known as Banaras, Kashi, Kasi and Varanasi (वाराणसी)) is a Hindu holy city on the banks of the river Ganga or Ganges in the modern north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. ... Kosala was an ancient Indian kingdom, corresponding roughly in area with the region of Oudh. ... The name may refer to one of the following. ... Shown in green is the Kashmiri region under Pakistani control. ... Kambojas are a very ancient people of north-western parts of ancient India and Afghanistan , frequently mentioned in ancient texts, although not in the Rig Veda. ... Saka is also the name of a town in Hiroshima, Japan; for information on this town, see Saka, Hiroshima. ... ...

Horses of Daradas

Brahmanda Purana refers to the horses from Darada country ^[6]

Brahatsamhita of Varahamihira

The Daradas are mentioned with the Shakas, Yavanas, Paradas and the Kambojas in 6th c AD Brhatsamhita of Varahamihira^[7]. They are also mentioned with the with the Abhisaras in the same text as living on the borders of Kashmir ^[8]. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... ... The Paradas are a people mentionned in ancient Indian writings from the beginning of our era, such as the Manu Smriti. ... Kambojas are a very ancient people of north-western parts of ancient India and Afghanistan , frequently mentioned in ancient texts, although not in the Rig Veda. ... Shown in green is the Kashmiri region under Pakistani control. ...

Rajatrangini references to Daradas

According to ancient text Rajatarangini of Kalhana, a Sanskrit text from the north, king Lalitaditya Muktapida of Kashmir undertakes to reduce his neighbing countries. He launches war expedition onto the region of north from Kashmir and first he fights with the Kambojas ^[9] and deprives them of their horses. Immediately after the Kambojas, he meets the Tukharas. Tukharas do not give him fight, but run away even abandoning their horses in the field ^[10]. Then Lalitaditiya meets the Bhauttas in Baltistan in western Tibet north of Kashmir ^[11], then the Dardas in Karakorum/Himalaya ^[12], the Valukambudhi ^[13] and then he encounters Strirajya ^[14], the Uttarakurus ^[15] and the Pragjyotisha respectively. Rajtarangini (River of Kings), a book written in Sanskrit by Kalhana, contains an account of the life and history of Kashmir. ... Kalhana (c. ... Sanskrit ( संस्कृतम् ; pronunciation: ) is an Indo-European classical language of India and a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. ... Shown in green is the Kashmiri region under Pakistani control. ... Kambojas are a very ancient people of north-western parts of ancient India and Afghanistan , frequently mentioned in ancient texts, although not in the Rig Veda. ... The Tocharians were the easternmost speakers of an Indo-European language in antiquity, inhabiting the Tarim basin in what is now Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, northwestern Peoples Republic of China. ... Baltistan (Urdu: بلتستان) , also known as Baltiyul in Balti, is a region to the north of Kashmir, bordering the Chinese region of Xinjiang. ... Tibet (older spelling Thibet; Tibetan: བོད་, Bod, pronounced pö in Lhasa dialect; Chinese: 西藏, Pinyin: XÄ«zàng or Chinese: 藏区, Pinyin: ZàngqÅ« [the two names are used with different connotations; see Name section below]) is a region in Central Asia and the home of the Tibetan people. ... Harhorin (Хархорин), or Khara Khorum in Classical Mongolian, is a town in Övörhangay aymag, Mongolia. ... Perspective view of the Himalaya and Mount Everest as seen from space looking south-south-east from over the Tibetan Plateau. ... Uttarakuru was the name of ancient country and its people as numerously referenced in ancient Vedic, Brahmanical and the Buddhist texts and numerous other ancient Sanskrit texts. ... Kamarupa [from kama desire + rupa body, form] Metaphysically, and in our esoteric philosophy it is the subjective form created through the mental and physical desires and thoughts in connection with things of matter, by all sentient beings, a form which survives the death of their bodies. ...

Kalhana names several Darada rulers: Acalamangala, during the reign of Ananta of Kashmir, A.D. 1028 to A.D. 1063 ^[16], Vidhyadhara Shahi during the reign of Harsa, 1089-1101 A.D. ^[17], Jagaddala during the reign of Uccala, A.D. 1101 to A.D. 1111 ^[18], Manidhara during the reign of Sussala, A.D. 1112 to A.D. 1120 ^[19]), and Yasodhara during the reign of Jayasimha, A.D. 1128 to A.D. 1149 ^[20]. Kalhana (c. ... Shown in green is the Kashmiri region under Pakistani control. ...

Epigraphic References to Daradas

Three inscriptions on rocks along the Indus and Gilgit Rivers in the southern reaches of the Karakoram provide the earliest epigraphic references to Darada kings. The first inscription is found on rocks where the present-day road between Gilgit and Skardu crosses the Gilgit River, over a bridge known as the Alam bridge, now called the Farhad bridge. The inscription is in poor Kharoshthi, and Fussman has read "daradaraya", meaning "King of the Daradas" ^[21]. The second inscription is found at Chilas Terrace, near to Chilas village along the Indus River, south of the junction of the Gilgit River and the Indus River. It is in Brahmi script. Hinuber has published a transliteration srir daranmaharajavaisrava, which he interprets as daran-maharaja "great king of the Daradas" (1989:57-8). A third inscription is immediately below the Thalpan bridge over the Indus River on the Thalpan side of the bridge. It is also in Brahmi script. Hinuber publishes a transliteration of daratsu maharaja sri vaisravanasena ssatrudamanah, which he translates as "The glorious Vaisravanasena, the subduer of enemies, great King in the land of the Daradas" (1989:59). Hinuber has interpretted these Brahmi inscriptions as referring to the same king Vaiaravanasena, and dates them to the 4th or 5th centuries A.D. He remarks that this king "is the second oldest king of the Daradas known by name, preceded only by the daradaraya mentioned at Alam bridge in a Kharoshthi inscription" (1989:59). These inscriptions appear to be the only known self-reference to a Darada people. The Indus is a river; the Indus River. ... Gilgit is a region in the Northern Areas of Pakistan, bordering the Chinese region of Xinjiang. ... Located in the mountainous regions of Gilgit, Ladakh & Baltistan, Gilgit and Baltistan are in Pakistan, the Karakoram is one of the great Himalayan mountain ranges, with many of the highest and most daunting peaks of the world. ... The Kharoṣṭhī script, also known as the Gāndhārī script, is an ancient alphabetic script used by the Gandhara culture of historic northwest India to write the Gandhari and Sanskrit languages (the Gandhara kingdom was located along the present-day border between Afghanistan and Pakistan between the Indus River and the... BrāhmÄ« refers to the pre-modern members of the Brahmic family of scripts, attested from the 3rd century BC. The best known and earliest dated inscriptions in Brahmi are the rock-cut edicts of Ashoka. ... Look up script in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... BrāhmÄ« refers to the pre-modern members of the Brahmic family of scripts, attested from the 3rd century BC. The best known and earliest dated inscriptions in Brahmi are the rock-cut edicts of Ashoka. ... Inscriptions are words or letters written, engraved, painted, or otherwise traced on a surface and can appear in contexts both small and monumental. ...

References

1. ^ Kirfel’s text of the Uttarapatha Countries of Bhuvanakosha, based on the Puranas.
2. ^ Mahabharata II.27.20-23
3. ^ Manusmriti, X.43-44
4. ^ Mahabharata II.27.18-25.
5. ^ MBH 7.13.15-18.
6. ^ Brahmanda Purana, III, Upodghata -pada 16-17
7. ^ Brhatasamhita verse 13.09
8. ^ Brhatsamhita verse 14.29.
9. ^ Rajatrangini: 4.164- 4.165
10. ^ Rajatrangini 4.166.
11. ^ Rajatrangini 4.168
12. ^ Rajatrangini 4.169, 4.171
13. ^ Rajatrangini 4.172
14. ^ Rajatrangini 4.173-174
15. ^ Rajatrangini 4.175
16. ^ Rajatrangini VII, 167
17. ^ Rajatrangini VII, 913
18. ^ Rajatrangini VIII, 209
19. ^ Rajatrangini VIII, 614
20. ^ Rajatrangini VIII, 2454
21. ^ Fussman 1978:1-6.

See also

Darada Kingdom
Kambojas
Parama Kambojas
Context: Kingdoms of Ancient India Daradas were a Mongoloid people who lived north to the Kashmir valley. ... Kambojas are a very ancient people of north-western parts of ancient India and Afghanistan , frequently mentioned in ancient texts, although not in the Rig Veda. ... Ancient Sanskrit literature reveals that like the Madras/Uttara Madras and the Kurus/Uttara Kurus, the ancient Kambojas also had, at least two settlements. ...