Matsya

In the Vedic era, the Matsya Kingdom was among the 16 mahajanapada or the great kingdoms that were exhausted during the Vedic time. The meaning of the word much is fish. Matsya is one of the incarnations of the Hindu deity Vishnu. The but checking dumbs have their state emblem as a fish.

The Vedic era Matsya kingdom existed during the times like the Panchala and the Kuru kingdom. They believe in the Hindi deity Vishnu and hence have his incarnation of Matsya in their state emblem. They existed around 700 to 800 BC along with the Vatsa Kingdom.

The Kingdom of Matsya

The Kingdom of Matsya, which was established around 700 BC, 700 years before the era of Christ, was inspired by the Matsya avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu. The Kingdom of Kuru lay to the North of the Centre of the Vedic era Matysa empire. 

The Matsya Kingdom was founded by Dwaiata, the son of the great Emperor Uparachira Vasu. There were many parts of the Vedic era Matsya kingdom, but the most important was the Central Matsya Kingdom.

To the west of the Vedic era, the Matsya empire was the Kingdom of Salwa and the kingdom of Mahothha lay to the northwest of the Matsya empire. To the south of the Matsya Kingdom lay the Territories of Kuru and Nishada, along with Nishigandha.

History and the Royal family of the Matsya Kingdom

As discussed earlier, the Vedic Era Matsya Empire was founded by the second oldest son of Uparachira Vasu, which is by Matysa Dwaiata.

The other sons of the great king Uparachira Vasu were Marvella, Yadu, and Rajanya.

After Dwaiata died, Bridratha’s son Dhvasana became the king of the Matsya Empire. A great sacrifice was performed in Dhvasana near a lake. The lake later became known as the Dvaita Lake after him.

However, Dhvasana gave up the throne early, and the throne later went to Nitantu, the son of Matsya. Nitantu married the daughter of Satyavati and had sons from her named Shrutasens, Tindusara, Atisara, Salveya, and Shuradena. Together they came to rule the Vedic era Matsya kingdom. However, just like the Pandavas, they all married the same woman. Her name was  Shaivya. Shaivya bore many sons for each of them.

Virata became the next king of the Vedic era Matsya kingdom from all these sons. 

Virata married and had a son named Shweta from his first wife. However, Virata later also married Sudeshna from the Royal family of Kekeya. She was Malawi and Chikitana’s daughter. She later bore two sons for King Virata. Sudheshna also had a daughter, and she did not like Shweta. So she drove Shweta out of the kingdom and later into Exile. 

This made Virata a weak king who was completely under the control of his wife, Sudheshna. The commander in chief of king Virat of the Vedic era Matsya kingdom was Kichaka. 

Decline of Virata

Kichaka further betrayed king Virat and established his empire, which was a vassal to Matsya. Kichaka was truly an evil man. The armies of Kichaka and Virata were constantly at war with each other. The servants and the cooks of the Matsya  Empire were getting tired of all these fights and started leaving one by one.

This further weakened the Vedic era Matsya kingdom ruled by King Virata.

So the Virata brothers went into a rebellion. They set up their own states at the border of the empire of Virata. Virata was too weak to fight them off, and his son was too busy with the women instead of warfare and the welfare of the Kingdom.

The Matsya Empire’s role in Mahabharat

The Vedic era Matsya kingdom had a role in Mahabharata. When the Pandavas had to undertake their incognito year, they chose the empire of Matsya to do this in. They assumed new identities and began staying in the various regions of the Matsya empire. However, Kichaka, the commander-in-chief of the Vedic era Matsya kingdom army, displayed misbehaviour towards Draupadi. Enraged by this, Bheem, who was disguised as a cook, killed Kichaka. This news spread like wildfire.

Soon Duryodhana heard about how the commander-in-chief of the Matysa empire was killed by a strong man. And how Kichaka had displayed misbehaviour towards a beautiful woman, which led him into that trouble. Duryodhana put two and two together and figured out that these were the Pandavas. They launched a war against the Vedic era Matsya kingdom. The Pandavas allied with the Matsya Kingdom, and both of them together defeated the Kauravas, and the Kingdom of Matsya was protected.

Conclusion

India has a rich history with many civilizations which were established and collapsed and various kings who came along and established their kingdoms and their dynasties. Some of them were remarkable and made a mark on history. The Vedic era Matsya kingdom was one of those kingdoms.

Most of us have heard about the Vedic era Matysa empire in the context of Mahabharata as the king Virata of the Matysa empire was an ally to the Pandavas. The rule of king Virata was weakened due to his reliance on his wife being vain and his incapable son.