Kuru

Kuru was a group of people or the society that emerged in the Vedic period around  1200 to 900 BCE. It was formed as a result of the merging of the puru and the Bharata clan after the battle of the ten kings. The Kuru capital was Asandivat ( first ) in today’s date is the modern Assandh in Haryana.  Kurukshetra being the centre point of the region, Kuru in the Vedic period gave power/strength to the region. The great Mahabharata is also a part of the Kuru Kingdom. The Pandavas and Kauravas are all the successors of the Kuru Dynasty.

Check out the UPSC Notes

Kuru Dynasty

The Kuru dynasty was founded by the son of the king Dushyanta of Hathinapur and Shakuntala, named Bharata( Emperor). People must be wondering why our country India is known as Bharat. The one and only answer to this is King Bharata. He was such an amazing King that our country India was named after his name Bharat. It is called Bharat or Bharatvarsha. Emperor Bharata was one of Peru’s descendants. The leader of the Kuru dynasty was born after twenty-five years of the Puru dynasty and gave rise to the grand dynasty. King Bharata was also the First king of the Mahabharata (a Hindu Epic/ storyline or poetry).

The Vedas (the Hindu scriptures) is the main place from where one can learn more about the Mahabharata and the Kuru kingdom. The Kuru here is termed as a group of Kshatrian people or the Aryans who have been ruling the north western part of the Indian subcontinent, most prominently the Modern day Haryana, over the Ganga- Yamuna river.

There were some other modern day states as well that were under the Kuru, and they were Hasthinapura and Indraprastha ( modern day Delhi). The ethnic group of the Kuru dynasty is also known as Kuru Pradesh. The settlement of the Kuru clan was near the Ganga, where there was the farming of rice and wheat.

The kings of Kuru ruled the region with the guidance of the purohita (Priest), chef, and the village headman.

Visit to know more about How to Prepare for UPSC without Coaching

King Kuru

King Kuru was one of the ancestors of the Mahabharata family tree. He was the son of Tapati (the daughter of the sun) and Samvarana (the son of Riksha). In the Mahabharata, Epic Kuru is said to be the descendants of the Pandavas and also the Kauravas and the ancestor of Pandu. Kuru is a term only used for the ancestors of dhridistra.

The king seemed to have had two wives and six sons. The wives’ names were Shubhangi and Vahini. He had five sons with Vahini and one son with shubhangi. The battlefield of the Kurukshetra ( Kuru jungle) war was named after him because of his merits and daring personality.

Also see: UPSC Syllabus PDF Download

The Mahabharata

The family tree of Mahabharata or the  Kuru kingdom / Kuru dynasty is said to be the most complex and longest family tree. The Kauravas and the Pandavas all were part of the Kuru Kingdom. The Pandavas (meaning five or group of five)  include Youdhishtri, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva. At the same time, the Kauravas include  Duryodhana, Dushana, and ninety-seven  other sons of Dhritarashtra. The Kauravas were around a hundred in number, including Dussala, the only daughter of Dhritarashtra. The Kuru kingdom is also known as the Bharata kingdom or the Bharata dynasty. Mahabharata is mostly famous for its war between the family, that is, between the Kauravas and the Pandavas, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra.  Kurukshetra is the main climax of the epic The Mahabharata. The only names that one might get known of are the names of the Pandavas as they are less in number, that is five, and some of the brothers of the Kauravas (it is difficult to recall the name of all the 99 brothers of Kauravas). Also, one must have to herald some of the famous characters of the epic, for example, Kunti, Gandhari, Shakuni mama, and many others.

Impact of the Kuru Kingdom

The impact of the Kuru dynasty and  Kuru kingdom was big on the region and the Indian origin. The battlefield of the Kurukshetra is considered one of the deadliest and blood shredding battles in the world. The evidence of these thoughts is not clear, but as written in the scriptures and some of the evidence that was found, for example, the weapons of the wars and the human skeletons under the Kurukshetra battlefield, gives us the clearance and shows us how deadly this war would have been.  The Kuru clan is considered a gift to the upcoming generations as it teaches us the value of family, wrong decisions, how addiction is bad for anyone, and how we should take care of our mind and body and think before taking any further steps.

Conclusion

The Kuru dynasty was destroyed after it was defeated by the Selvi tribe. The kuru dynasty was one of the most important and renowned dynasties in history as it has a huge historical ancestry. It includes the most famous and known epics of the world and mostly the Hindu, The Mahabharata. The Kuru kingdom/dynasty is fully based on the Mahabharata Family tree.

This dynasty still has a huge impact on the lives of the people in the form of the Bhagavad Gita, and the Kurukshetra war is still the most interesting and blood shredding war in the history of the world.

Related Articles: